Moon’s Latest Crater Could Impact Lunar Habitation

By Brian Myers
| Published 10 seconds ago

In an address to other scientists, a speaker at a recent convention in The Woodlands, TX revealed that a previously overlooked collision on the moon’s surface could foreshadow significant risks to life on the moon. A massive crater, less than two years old, has an impact zone with debris spread far and wide, leading some to believe that future habitation of Earth’s only satellite is riskier than previously thought. At the very least, this discovery helps to further outline the necessary risk management needed for short and long term stays on the orbiting object’s surface.

The new crater measures more than 200 meters wide, exceeding the length of two football fields. It was discovered in March 2026, but is believed to have been formed nearly two years before. The images of the crater were captured by a camera aboard NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in April or May 2024.

Mapping The Surface For Future Missions

In a report given at the Lunar and Planetary Sciences Conference on March 17, 2026, planetary scientist Mark Robinson gave a detailed description of the crater to his peers. In addition to the crater’s 225 meter width, the elongated hole has an average depth of 43 meters. However, what is perhaps the most interesting discovery concerns the material observed in and around the crater’s edges.

Nearly all around the crater’s precipices are sheer drops. To Robinson, this means that the object that impacted the lunar surface and created the crater hit on a spot that was mostly volcanic rock. The lava, long ago solidified, buckled when struck from above and the crater was formed. But the elongated shape of the crater suggests that, according to Robinson, a mix of lunar material is present underneath the soil. If the impact zone would have been all rock, then the crater would have been more circular. 

With thousands of images to examine, it’s easy to understand why this new crater was initially missed by researchers. Launched in 2009, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter serves as the longest-surviving functional object in lunar orbit. According to NASA, it has successfully “mapped the Moon’s surface and measured its temperature, composition, and radiation environment in unprecedented detail.” These complex tasks combine to make selecting safer locations for future astronaut landings more efficient. The data also gives better calculations on where sunlight is best captured, helping to make best use of any equipment that will be landed during upcoming missions.

Precautions To Consider

NASA also reports that a crater of this size only occurs every 139 years or so. The impact zone of this particular crater is expansive, too. The impact generated a ring of ejecta (impact debris) that is hundreds of meters from the center of the impact zone. What is even more startling is the overall area of disturbance. Robinson and other scientists have observed impacts and other phenomena as far as 120 kilometers from the crater itself.

With an exosphere consisting of argon, helium, and neon, the vacuum surrounding the moon’s surface doesn’t create an environment that will burn up smaller asteroids in the way that the Earth’s atmosphere does. This means that objects of the same size entering the orbit of both planetary bodies will have more of an impact on the lunar surface than on Earth’s.

These are not new revelations, as scientists have known about the impact of asteroids and other debris on the moon’s surface for decades. What it does mean, however, is that extra precautions need to be taken when constructing permanent structures on the lunar surface. A 2005 study showed only a 1% probability of damaging impact from an asteroid or meteoroid, though the same paper revealed that this probability increases by a single percent with each building that is constructed.

The study also reports that impacts occur on the moon’s surface daily. Though the odds of impact with a future structure are “very small,” impacts without any warning pose catastrophic risks to persons or supplies inside such a structure. The study concludes by reinstating the importance of considering the shape, size, and material base for any potential moon structure, especially if it is meant to be occupied by people.

NASA has planned for astronauts on the upcoming Artemis missions to live aboard the Gateway Space Station, which will orbit the moon. But with missions planned that will include surface habitation systems, Robinson and other scientists seem to agree that additional precautions should be taken to minimize or eliminate potential structural damage from falling objects.