In the spring of 2024, a comet or asteroid the size of a small building struck the Moon, carving a 730-foot wound into its ancient surface — a collision so rare it may happen only once in a century. The scar went unnoticed for two years, until a NASA researcher, reviewing orbital imagery, recognized it for what it was: the largest newly formed crater yet found anywhere in the solar system. Named McGetchin, this fresh mark on the Moon arrives at a moment when humanity is preparing to return there, transforming a geological curiosity into a practical lesson about the forces that shape worlds.
NASA discovers rare 'once-in-a-century' Moon crater formed by spring 2024 impact
A comet or asteroid, the size of a building, left its mark.
Mark
So NASA found a crater that formed in spring 2024, but didn't notice it until 2026? How does that happen?
Mimi
The Moon is vast, and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter takes images constantly. A single crater, even a large one, can be easy to miss in the sheer volume of data until someone is specifically reviewing that area.
Luke
Right, but we should be clear: the crater formed in spring 2024, but we don't know the exact date. The source says "spring 2024," not a specific month or day.
Mark
Fair point. So what makes this crater special if the Moon is already covered in craters?
Mimi
This one is special because it's new. Most lunar craters are ancient—billions of years old. Studying one that formed just a couple of years ago lets scientists see the impact process unfold in real time, essentially.
Luke
Though "real time" is a bit generous. The impact happened, then sat there for months or longer before anyone spotted it. It's more like studying the immediate aftermath.
Mark
And the impact itself—we know what hit it?
Mimi
Not exactly. Scientists believe it was a comet or asteroid, roughly the size of a three-to-six-story building. But they don't have the object itself, just the crater it left behind.
Luke
Which means the size estimate is inferred from the crater dimensions, not from direct observation of the impactor. That's important to note.
Mark
Why does this matter for the crewed missions coming up?
Mimi
The Moon has no atmosphere, so impacts happen at full force. Understanding how the surface responds to collisions helps engineers design safer habitats and plan where to land.
Luke
Though it's worth saying: McGetchin is rare. An impact this size happens once a century or longer. So while it's scientifically valuable, the actual risk to a mission landing on the Moon is still quite low.
Le Pouls
- A building-sized object struck the Moon in spring 2024 with enough force to excavate a crater nearly the length of two football fields — and no one knew for two years.
- NASA researcher Robert Wagner spotted the telltale bright flash and dark halo in Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter imagery in 2026, triggering a study that confirmed it as the solar system's largest newly discovered crater.
- Scientists are racing to study McGetchin while its geology is still fresh, treating its readable features as a rare, real-time window into how impacts reshape the lunar surface.
- With both American and Chinese crewed lunar missions in development, understanding how debris scatters and hazards emerge from such impacts has shifted from academic interest to urgent mission-planning necessity.
In the spring of 2024, a comet or asteroid the size of a small building struck the Moon, carving a 730-foot wound into its ancient surface — a collision so rare it may happen only once in a century. The scar went unnoticed for two years, until a NASA researcher, reviewing orbital imagery, recognized it for what it was: the largest newly formed crater yet found anywhere in the solar system. Named McGetchin, this fresh mark on the Moon arrives at a moment when humanity is preparing to return there, transforming a geological curiosity into a practical lesson about the forces that shape worlds.
In the spring of 2024, a comet or asteroid roughly the size of a three-to-six-story building slammed into the Moon, gouging out a crater 730 feet wide. The scar went unnoticed for two years until NASA researcher Robert Wagner, poring over fresh imagery from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, spotted an unmistakable bright spot ringed by a dark halo against the Moon's grey terrain.
The find was extraordinary. Scientists estimate an impact of this scale occurs on the Moon only once per century or less. Published in Science Advances, the study confirmed the crater — named McGetchin — as the largest newly formed crater discovered anywhere in the solar system.
What makes McGetchin significant is not its size compared to the Moon's ancient giants, but its youth. The impact is recent enough that its geology remains legible, offering scientists something rare: near-real-time evidence of how collisions reshape the lunar surface. Unlike Earth, the Moon has no atmosphere to slow incoming debris, meaning objects arrive at full, undiminished force.
That understanding carries weight beyond science. Both the United States and China are developing crewed lunar missions, and McGetchin's fresh record of how the surface breaks, how debris scatters, and what hazards form is now directly relevant to keeping future explorers safe. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, mapping the Moon since 2009, made the discovery possible — a reminder that much of what happens on the Moon goes unseen until someone looks closely enough.
In the spring of 2024, something struck the Moon. A comet or asteroid, roughly the size of a three-to-six-story building, hit the lunar surface with enough force to carve out a crater 730 feet across. For months, the scar sat unnoticed. Then, in 2026, a NASA researcher named Robert Wagner was reviewing fresh imagery from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter when he spotted it: a large bright spot ringed by a dark halo, unmistakable against the grayscale landscape.
Wagner's discovery marked something rare. NASA scientists estimate that an impact of this magnitude occurs on the Moon roughly once every century, or even less frequently than that. The crater, which researchers named McGetchin, became the subject of a study published in Science Advances that confirmed it as the largest newly formed crater yet discovered anywhere in the solar system.
The Moon's surface is scarred with countless craters, many of them vastly larger than McGetchin. What makes this one significant is not its size relative to others, but the fact that scientists can study its formation almost in real time. The impact happened recently enough that the crater's features remain fresh, its geology still readable. This window into a recent collision event offers something invaluable: direct evidence of how impacts shape the lunar landscape.
That knowledge matters because humans are going back to the Moon. Both the United States and China have crewed missions in development, and understanding how the Moon responds to impacts—how its surface breaks, how debris scatters, what hazards might emerge—becomes practical information for mission planning. Unlike Earth, the Moon has virtually no atmosphere to slow down or burn up incoming space debris. Objects arrive at full velocity and full force. Studying McGetchin, and the impact that created it, helps scientists understand what future lunar explorers might encounter.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been mapping the Moon since 2009, made the discovery possible. The spacecraft's imaging capabilities allowed Wagner to detect the crater in high-resolution scans, revealing details that ground-based observation could never provide. The timing of the detection—years after the impact itself—underscores how much of what happens on the Moon goes unseen until someone looks closely enough.
Citations marquantes
Scientists estimate that an impact of this magnitude happens on the Moon about once in a century or even longer.— NASA
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