NASA Identifies Largest Modern Impact Crater Found in the Solar System

NASA researchers have identified a massive newly formed crater on the Moon, measuring 730 feet wide and 141 feet deep. Believed to have been caused by a comet or asteroid impact in the spring of 2024, the rare crater stands as the largest modern impact site discovered in the solar system.

The lunar surface, long viewed as a quiet monument of ancient history, is far more active than its static appearance suggests. Researchers have confirmed the discovery of a massive impact crater that punched into the lunar crust between April 11 and May 22, 2024, according to Telset. The scar, officially designated McGetchin in honor of the late Lunar and Planetary Institute director Thomas McGetchin, spans roughly 730 feet (222 meters) in diameter—larger than the Roman Colosseum, as cited by AFP via BeritaSatu—and reaches depths of up to 141 feet, according to reports published by Koran Jakarta.

While the Moon hosts countless ancient scars—including the massive South Pole-Aitken Basin which spans more than 1,500 mil (2,400 kilometer) in diameter, as noted by Telset—the emergence of a fresh impact site of this magnitude is a rare event. Planetary scientists calculate that an impact of this scale occurs roughly once every 132 years, describing the observation as statically rare, effectively once in a lifetime in studies published in the journal Science Advances on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, as reported by BeritaSatu.

How Robert Wagner and the LRO Uncovered the 2024 Impact

The cataclysmic collision occurred entirely unobserved in real-time. Neither terrestrial telescopes nor space-based instruments caught the moment a celestial object—estimated by researchers to measure between three and six stories tall, comparable to a large building—slammed into the lunar surface during the spring of 2024, as noted by BeritaSatu.

NASA scan discovers largest newly formed Moon crater

The event remained invisible in the archives until Robert Wagner, a researcher working with NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), first noticed changes on the lunar surface in October 2025 while examining wide-angle camera images. Although LRO has orbited and mapped the Moon continuously since 2009, Wagner compared before-and-after photos to confirm the new lunar crater. Narrow-angle cameras later captured the cavity in December 2025 after the orbiter flew back over the impact site, revealing a bright central point framed by a dark halo.

The impact is roughly 730 feet (222 meters) wide. The crater is believed to have been formed in the spring of 2024 by a comet or asteroid colliding with the Moon, with researchers describing the object that caused it as being the size of a building three to six stories tall. NASA, via Koran Jakarta

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Geological Aftermath: Chilled Soil and Upended Regolith

The violent energy of the strike did more than simply carve a bowl into the surface. According to reporting from Telset, scientists analyzing thermal data discovered a 4 mil (7 kilometer) zone surrounding the crater where nighttime temperatures drop roughly 16 degrees Fahrenheit lower than the surrounding terrain. Experts attribute this anomaly to the disruption of the regolith—the loose, fragmental topsoil layer of the Moon. The impact shattered and churned the upper crust, reducing its density and altering its capacity to retain heat through the lunar night.

Researchers describe this energetic churning process as a form of cosmic gardening. Instead of viewing impact events merely as destructive scars, planetary geologists increasingly understand them as active engines that stir sedimentary layers, unearthing buried material and redistributing debris across vast distances. LRO team members note that impacts regularly dredge and flip topsoil layers, creating a dynamic surface environment where historic markers like the dusty bootprints left by Apollo astronauts will eventually be obliterated by ongoing geological turnover.

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Implications for Artemis and Future Crewed Bases

As space agencies including the United States and Tiongkok (China) lay groundwork for upcoming crewed missions and permanent outposts, the discovery of a modern impact crater of this size introduces immediate operational challenges. Without a thick atmosphere to slow down or vaporize incoming space debris, the lunar surface takes the full brunt of cosmic projectiles.

Photo: orbitindonesia.com

Data gathered from the McGetchin impact provides critical baseline statistics for engineers designing habitats and roving vehicles. Because high-velocity collisions fling ejecta material across wide angles, and because altered soil densities can affect how rover wheels interact with the surface near the crater, future mission planners must account for flying debris and environmental hazards when hardening infrastructure. What began as a purely astronomical observation has quickly evolved into an essential metric for human safety on the lunar frontier.