NASA spacecraft spots double crater formed by rocket impact on Moon: See pic

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has spotted a double crater formed by a rocket impact on the Moon. The rocket body, which impacted the Moon on March 4, 2022, near Hertzsprung crater, created a double crater roughly 28 meters wide in the longest dimension.

"The double crater was unexpected and may indicate that the rocket body had large masses at each end. Typically a spent rocket has mass concentrated at the motor end; the rest of the rocket stage mainly consists of an empty fuel tank," the agency said on Friday.

According to NASA, no other rocket body impacts on the Moon created double craters. The two craters are an eastern crater which is 18-meter in diameter, superimposed on a western crater which is 16-meter in diameter.

The origin of the rocket body remains uncertain.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter found a new rocket impact site on the Moon! Learn more: https://t.co/VOd7tmwsT9 pic.twitter.com/ZV7OBaBZOR

— NASA Moon (@NASAMoon) June 24, 2022

Launched in 2009, LRO is a robotic mission to map the moon's surface. The mission has collected a treasure trove of data with its diverse suite of instruments, paving the way forward for re-establishing a human presence on the Moon with the Artemis program.

NASA has extended the LRO mission to continue lunar science and exploration. During the extended period, the spacecraft will continue to study the surface and geology of the Moon.