Is That New Splotch on the Moon What We Think It Is?

On Thursday, the Korean AeroSpace Agency shared the first images of the hole the wayward Falcon 9 upper stage punched into the Moon. KASA’s Danuri lunar orbiter took the photos as it made several passes over the impact site, snapping before and after shots. “This observation offers a valuable opportunity to conduct in-depth research on lunar surface changes and impact mechanisms,” KASA said in a statement translated by Google. Based on his calculations, Gray and colleagues estimated that the resulting impact crater would be 66 to 98 feet (20 to 30 meters) wide. The latter will become much more important if NASA achieves its goal of establishing a sustained human presence on the Moon.