South Korea's Danuri spacecraft shows new Moon crater from SpaceX Falcon 9 crash

A discarded SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stage crashed into the Moon on August 5, 2026, creating a new crater; South Korea's Danuri spacecraft captured before-and-after images. Weighing about four tonnes, the stage struck at roughly 8,700 km/h near Einstein crater. Danuri's images reveal a new crater and darkened terrain. The debris came from a January 2025 commercial mission that launched two private landers, including Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost. Danuri was itself launched by a Falcon 9 in 2022. The unintended crash offers rare data on lunar dust, and NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will also study the site.