# Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

Type: Company

Source: Space & Defense Intelligence Brief — https://getspacebrief.com/entity/lunar-reconnaissance-orbiter
Canonical HTML page: https://getspacebrief.com/entity/lunar-reconnaissance-orbiter

## Timeline

- **2026-08-18**: NASA releases before-and-after imagery — NASA publishes before-and-after photos showing a crater 60 feet (18 m) across and under 10 feet (3 m) deep with butterfly-wing ejecta streaks.
- **2026-08-18**: NASA releases LRO crater imagery — NASA and KASA publish before-and-after imagery from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter after six days of orbital alignment and additional processing.
- **2026-08-12**: LRO photographs the crater — NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter images the fresh crater from 60 miles (96 km) up about a week after the collision, once the site rotated into view.
- **2026-08-05**: Upper stage impacts the Moon — The Falcon upper stage plows into the lunar surface at 5,400 mph (8,700 kph) after drifting through space for more than a year.
- **2026-08-05**: Falcon 9 upper stage impacts the Moon — The wayward upper stage strikes the lunar surface, creating a fresh 60-foot-wide crater.
- **2025-01-15**: Falcon 9 launches with two commercial lunar landers — SpaceX launches a Falcon 9 carrying two commercial lunar landers. The first stage returns to Earth, while the upper stage continues toward the Moon.
- **2025**: Falcon upper stage launches private Moon landers — A SpaceX Falcon rocket upper stage launches a pair of private lunar landers carrying experiments and a tiny rover under NASA's commercial lunar exploration push.

## Recent coverage (2 stories)

### NASA Images Show 60-Foot Crater From SpaceX Falcon 9's Aug. 5 Moon Impact
2026-08-19 02:48:04 · Sentiment: Neutral · Impact: 6/10 · Sources: 2

New NASA imagery from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter confirms a 60-foot-wide crater left by a Falcon 9 upper stage that struck the Moon on August 5. Cross-agency coordination between NASA, KASA, ESO, and Danuri enabled precise before-and-after imaging. The event highlights growing cislunar debris and collision risks as lunar missions multiply.
Full story: https://getspacebrief.com/story/spacex-falcon9-moon-impact-crater-nasa-images

### NASA Reveals 60-Foot Lunar Crater From SpaceX Falcon's 5,400 MPH Impact
2026-08-19 01:53:23 · Sentiment: Neutral · Impact: 5/10 · Sources: 6

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured the sharpest before-and-after views yet of the 60-foot crater a SpaceX Falcon upper stage carved into the Moon at 5,400 mph on Aug. 5. The event doubles as a calibration-grade cratering experiment and a live case study in upper-stage disposal as lunar traffic accelerates.
Full story: https://getspacebrief.com/story/nasa-images-reveal-60-foot-crater-spacex-falcon-lunar-impact

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