NASA Confirms Largest Recent Lunar Impact Crater, Named McGetchin

NASA confirmed the discovery of McGetchin crater, the largest known recent impact on the Moon, formed between April 11 and May 22, 2024. The crater measures 222 meters in diameter and 43 meters in depth. Scientist Robert Wagner of Intuitive Machines, working with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), detected the crater during routine data analysis in December 2025 by comparing orbital images and identifying an unusually bright spot surrounded by a dark halo. The impact crater was confirmed and findings were published in September 2026 in the journal Science Advances.

The crater was named McGetchin in honor of Thomas McGetchin, a pioneering Apollo-era lunar scientist who contributed to understanding impact cratering on the Moon. Scientists estimate the impacting object was the size of a building three to six stories tall. According to crater production models, impacts of this magnitude occur approximately once every 100 to 132 years on the Moon, making this discovery statistically rare and effectively a once-in-a-lifetime observation. The previous largest contemporary impact crater found on the Moon had a diameter of approximately 70 meters.

Beyond the crater itself, the impact produced widespread effects across the lunar surface. Thermal sensors aboard the LRO detected a cold zone extending approximately 6.4 kilometers in diameter around the crater rim, where nighttime temperatures are roughly 9 degrees Celsius cooler than surrounding areas. Scientists attribute this thermal anomaly to the impact remixing the regolith—the layer of dust and rock fragments covering the Moon—leaving the disturbed material less dense and with reduced capacity to retain heat. This phenomenon has implications for understanding how major impacts modify the lunar surface and could affect future rover operations.

The LRO has been monitoring the Moon's surface since 2009 using seven instruments to map temperature, composition, topography, and radiation. Over its 17-plus years of operation, the orbiter has identified at least 1,000 new impact craters and tracked approximately 100,000 other surface changes. Smaller impacts occur frequently—roughly 140 new craters measuring about 9 meters across form each year from space rocks approximately 109 centimeters wide. The discovery of McGetchin adds crucial data for understanding impact frequency and lunar surface evolution, particularly as NASA and other space agencies plan sustained human exploration missions to the Moon.