GoKawiilNASA's LRO confirms new 728-foot-wide McGetchin crater on the moon
NASA scientist Robert Wagner spotted a fresh lunar crater by comparing images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's wide-angle camera taken in October 2025, tracing the impact to sometime between April 11 and May 22, 2024. The crater, since named McGetchin after scientist Tom McGetchin, measures 728 feet wide and 141 feet deep, and scientists estimate an impact of this size occurs roughly once every 132 years.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
Fresh, precisely dated lunar impacts are extremely rare, giving researchers an unusual real-time case study of how craters reshape the moon's surface. Early findings show a 4-mile-wide zone around the crater is notably cooler at night because the impact loosened the regolith, insight that could inform how future rovers navigate and how mission planners assess terrain near young craters.
- A comet or asteroid roughly the size of a multi-story building struck the moon in early-to-mid 2024.
- The resulting McGetchin crater is 728 feet wide and 141 feet deep, an event expected only once every 132 years.
- Surrounding regolith disturbed by the impact is about 16°F cooler at night, which could affect rover mobility studies.
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See Celestron NexStar 130SLT Telescope on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: engadget.com — Mariella Moon, 2026-09-18
Published there as: “NASA's moon orbiter has spotted an impact crater that only happens once a century”
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