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NASA scientist discovers largest, newly formed 'once-in-a-century' moon crater after asteroid impact - FOX Weather
Technology and Science9/18/20261 min read
A powerful asteroid impact carved a massive new crater into the moon’s surface, creating a landmark discovery for NASA scientists and honoring lunar scientist Tom McGetchin.
✨ Key Highlights
- A NASA scientist identified the largest newly formed impact crater ever documented in the solar system, spotting it during a routine data-quality check of a global lunar map.
- NASA's Robert Wagner noticed an unusually large bright patch surrounded by a dark halo, then compared before and after images to confirm the discovery on the moon's eastern edge.
- The feature, named McGetchin Crater, formed between April 11 and May 22, 2024, after a comet or asteroid struck the lunar surface, and measures 728 feet wide and 141 feet deep.
- The bright spot captured in the imagery is ejecta rather than the crater itself, thrown out by a rock potentially the size of a three- to six-story building; the compared images span 38 miles.
- NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter recorded the newer image in summer 2025, contrasted against a 2011 "before" image, revealing the change over that window.
- The crater honors lunar scientist Tom McGetchin, whose memorial words about "shaping your stone" and contributing quietly to civilization now have a lasting place on the lunar surface.
THE TAKEAWAY
- A NASA scientist discovered the largest newly formed impact crater ever documented in the solar system.
- The McGetchin Crater formed on the moon between April 11 and May