Scientists have made a remarkable discovery of a massive crater on the moon, larger than the Roman Colosseum, resulting from a significant impact that occurred two years ago without initial detection. The crater, measuring 222 meters across and up to 43 meters deep, stands as the largest known impact crater in the solar system from recent times.
This rare event, estimated to happen once every 132 years, provides valuable insights as NASA plans to establish a lunar base for astronauts. The finding was detailed in two studies published in the journal Science Advances. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) identified the crater on the moon’s near side in May 2024, following an impact by an asteroid or comet fragment that went unnoticed by telescopes on Earth and in space.
The crater, named after the late Thomas McGetchin, former director of Houston’s Lunar and Planetary Institute, has altered over 100 kilometers of the lunar surface. The impact resulted in the expulsion of dust and rocky soil at a higher angle than expected, according to Mark Robinson, the chief scientist for LRO’s cameras at Intuitive Machines.
Additional research revealed a seven-kilometer-wide cold spot surrounding the new crater, indicative of a loosening of the moon’s topsoil. Co-author David Paige from the University of California, Los Angeles, likened the impact to gardening, suggesting it churns the moon’s sediments akin to gardening the regolith, the loose material above bedrock.
The LRO’s continuous crater discoveries since its inception in 2009 have shown that the moon’s top layer of soil is overturned by ejected material every 80,000 years, a faster rate than previously believed. This challenges the notion that the footprints left by Apollo moonwalkers will endure forever, as they are expected to vanish within that timeframe.
Looking ahead, researchers aim to assess the potential risk of ejected crater material striking NASA’s forthcoming moon base to inform engineering decisions that will enhance structural durability and minimize potential damage.
