NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has identified a striking new crater on the Moon that scientists describe as a rare, potentially once-in-a-century discovery. The feature, named McGetchin crater, is about 221.9 meters wide and 43 meters deep. NASA's recent announcement highlights why finding a fresh impact site is scientifically valuable.
The crater was first spotted during a routine data-quality check by lunar scientist Robert Wagner in October 2025. Later analysis indicated that the impact occurred sometime between April 11 and May 22, 2024. That makes the feature unusually young on geological timescales.
How big is it?
McGetchin crater measures roughly 728 feet, or 221.9 meters, across, and reaches about 141 feet, or 43 meters, in depth. The LRO Narrow-Angle Camera captured a detailed view on December 5, 2025, showing the crater and the material thrown outward from the impact.
Scientists estimate that the object that created it may have been roughly the size of a three- to six-story building. Because the Moon has no atmosphere like Earth's, incoming objects do not experience the same atmospheric breakup that can occur here.
Why a fresh crater matters
Most lunar craters are ancient. Their edges and ejecta are gradually altered by later impacts and the slow effects of the space environment. A recently formed crater is different: scientists can examine the impact site before subsequent events have significantly modified it.
That makes McGetchin crater a natural laboratory. Researchers can study the shape of the excavation, the distribution of ejecta and the way the surrounding lunar surface responded to the collision. Those observations can improve models of how impacts reshape the Moon and other rocky bodies.
A reminder that the Moon is still changing
The discovery also challenges the idea that the lunar surface is completely static. The Moon changes slowly compared with Earth, but impacts continue to occur. Most are too small to create large, easily identifiable craters, making a newly formed feature of this size particularly unusual.
NASA's LRO has been orbiting the Moon since 2009 and has become an important tool for identifying changes in the lunar surface. Its cameras allow researchers to compare images taken at different times and spot new features.
What scientists can learn next
Researchers can use the fresh crater to investigate impact physics, the behavior of lunar soil and the distribution of material thrown outward by a collision. Because the event happened recently, the evidence is much cleaner than it would be at an ancient crater.
For space science, McGetchin crater is therefore more than an impressive photograph. It is a rare, naturally occurring experiment that lets scientists study a lunar impact while its physical evidence is still comparatively fresh.
Source
NASA — New lunar crater discovery
