NASA spacecraft discovers moon crater bigger than Roman Colosseum, tell me about this news in (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nasa-spacecraft-new-crater-moon/)
17-09-2026
Scientists using NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) discovered a massive new crater on the moon’s near side that is larger than the Roman Colosseum, representing the biggest impact crater formed in the solar system in modern observed history.
Key details from the report include:
Size and Scale: The crater measures approximately 728 feet across (about the length of two American football fields) and plunges up to 141 feet deepequivalent to three vertically stacked school buses. It is roughly three times larger than the previous record-holder spotted by the LRO a decade ago.
The Impactor: It was formed when a rogue fragment of an asteroid or comet, estimated to be between three and six stories tall, slammed into the lunar surface between April 11 and May 22, 2024. The impact initially went undetected by telescopes on Earth and in space before being identified in orbiter images in August 2025 and confirmed in 2026.
Name: The crater has been named after the late Thomas McGetchin, a planetary scientist and former director of Houston’s Lunar and Planetary Institute.
Widespread Effects: Debris and rocky soil from the strike were blasted across the lunar terrain for more than 66 miles, launched at higher angles than existing models predicted. Instruments also mapped a 4-mile-wide thermal “cold spot” around the rim caused by the severe churning and loosening of the lunar regolith.
Rarity: Researchers published findings in the journal Science Advances noting that impacts of this magnitude are statistically rare, estimated to happen only about once every 132 years.
Significance for Lunar Exploration: The findings demonstrate that the moon’s top layer of soil is overturned much faster than once assumed (roughly every 80,000 years). Crucially, the data provides essential baseline measurements for NASA engineers designing and hardening future crewed habitats and infrastructure for the Artemis program to withstand debris from high-energy lunar impacts.