NASA Lunar Orbiter Spots Once-in-Century Moon Crater Impact
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has discovered McGetchin crater, the largest newly formed impact crater ever found in the solar system. The crater, located on the Moon's eastern edge, measures 728 feet wide and 141 feet deep—roughly the length of two football fields. Scientists believe an asteroid or comet about three to six stories tall struck the lunar surface between April 11 and May 22, 2024, but the impact went undetected at the time. An image-processing specialist named Robert Wagner stumbled upon the discovery while comparing before-and-after satellite images in October 2025. The impact disrupted the surrounding terrain across an area spanning more than 66 miles, creating a 4-mile-wide cold zone that is about 16 degrees Fahrenheit cooler at night. Scientists estimate impacts of this magnitude occur roughly once every 132 years, making this a rare and valuable opportunity to study recent lunar surface changes. The findings, published in Science Advances, have implications for NASA's Artemis program, which plans to establish sustained human presence and infrastructure on the Moon.
Key facts
- McGetchin crater measures 728 feet (222 meters) wide and 141 feet (43 meters) deep
- An estimated 3-6 story building-sized asteroid or comet caused the impact between April 11-May 22, 2024
- Impact disrupted lunar surface across area spanning more than 66 miles
- Discovery was made October 24, 2025 by image-processing specialist Robert Wagner during routine data check
- Such impacts are estimated to occur once every 132 years, making this a once-in-a-century event
- Crater is named McGetchin after late Apollo-era lunar scientist Thomas McGetchin
- NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has monitored Moon for over 17 years
Limits of this briefing
No distinct political perspectives were found in coverage of this scientific discovery; the story is treated uniformly as an important NASA achievement with implications for space exploration. Left-leaning and right-leaning outlets did not frame this story differently in available sources.
Sources
- NASA Science Official: NASA's Moon Orbiter Spots New, 'Once-in-Century' Moon Crater Centre
- CNN: Lunar orbiter spots 'once in a lifetime' new crater on the moon Centre
- NBC News: NASA spacecraft discovers a huge new crater on the moon Centre
- Fox Weather: NASA scientist discovers largest, newly formed 'once-in-a-century' moon crater after asteroid impact Centre
- Space.com: A NASA spacecraft just found a giant new crater on the moon. Here's why everyone's talking about the 'once-in-a-century' discovery Centre