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LiveScience
LiveScience
Brandon Specktor

First photos of SpaceX lunar rocket crash show blackened hole torn into the moon's surface

A new crater appeared on the moon after a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage crashed near Einstein crater on Wednesday, Korean satellite images reveal .

In the dead of night on Wednesday (Aug. 5), part of a defunct SpaceX rocket slammed into the moon at more than 5,000 mph (8,000 km/h) — and a Korean lunar satellite has just shared the first images of the aftermath.

A series of photos snapped by South Korea's Danuri lunar orbiter on Wednesday reveal a small, blackened crater at the alleged site where a used Falcon 9 upper stage crashed into the lunar surface around 2:35 a.m. ET. The crash occurred near Einstein crater, on the northwestern limb of the moon, close to the terminator zone where lunar day and night meet. The photos were shared by the Korea AeroSpace Administration on social media on Thursday (Aug. 6).

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