A South Korean satellite recently captured images of a visible mark on the moon resulting from a SpaceX rocket collision on Wednesday. The mark, appearing as a smudge varying in darkness, was detected near the Einstein Crater on the moon’s surface. The Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, also known as Danuri, obtained images before and after the SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage crashed into the lunar surface during its approach to the moon, as reported by the Korean AeroSpace Administration (KASA) on X. The high-resolution Lunar Terrain Imager (LUTI) camera onboard the orbiter documented these images.
The SpaceX rocket’s second stage, launched in January 2025, had veered off course for about a year following the deployment of two lunar landers into space. The rocket stage ultimately collided with the moon on Wednesday at a speed estimated at 8,700 km/hour, marking an unintentional but expected crash. Telescopes on Earth observed the plume of debris resulting from the impact before the release of the new images confirmed the crash.
Danuri, launched by a SpaceX rocket in 2022, has been in orbit around 100 kilometers above the moon’s polar regions since December of that year. Originally slated for a one-year mission, its operational lifespan has now been extended until 2027.