NASA's moon orbiter has spotted an impact crater that only happens once a century

Images taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter led to the discovery of a moon crater that’s 728 feet wide. Impacts like that only happen once a century. NASA’s moon orbiter has spotted an impact crater that only happens once a century.

Tomorrow Space NASA’s moon orbiter has spotted an impact crater that only happens once a century It’s the largest modern-day crater in our solar system, NASA says. While we weren’t able to observe it in real time, we can now see what it looks like, thanks to NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). NASA scientist Robert Wagner noticed a change on the moon’s surface while looking at images taken by the orbiter’s wide-angle camera in October 2025.

After comparing before and after photos, he was able to confirm that there was indeed a new lunar crater, which was then officially named after scientist Tom McGetchin. To be clear, the McGetchin crater isn’t the largest crater on the moon. That honor belongs to the South Pole-Aitken Basin, which measures 1,550 miles in diameter.

Most lunar impacts are small, and most of them are pretty ancient. The McGetchin crater measures 728 feet wide and 141 feet deep.