Scientists have made a significant discovery of a massive crater on the moon, larger than the Roman Colosseum, resulting from a powerful impact that occurred two years ago, initially undetected. This steep-sided crater measures 222 meters across and up to 43 meters deep, making it the largest known impact crater in the solar system from recent times.
Such a rare event, estimated to happen only once every 132 years, provides valuable insights as NASA plans to establish a lunar base for astronauts. According to researchers, this discovery is a unique and precious observation that occurs effectively once in a lifetime.
The crater, named after the late Thomas McGetchin, was identified by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) on the moon’s near side in May 2024, following an impact from an asteroid or comet fragment. The strike went unnoticed by telescopes on Earth and in space at the time.
The LRO’s wide-angle images revealed the crater in August 2025, with more detailed pictures taken last fall, confirming the discovery earlier this year. The moon’s surface, already marked by ancient impacts, including one spanning over 2,400 kilometers, was churned for more than 100 kilometers by this recent impact event.
Mark Robinson, the chief scientist for LRO’s cameras at Intuitive Machines and lead author of one of the studies, highlighted that the dust and rocky soil were ejected at a higher angle than expected. Another study found a cold spot around the crater, indicative of a loosening of the moon’s topsoil, likened to gardening by co-author David Paige from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Robinson noted that impacts like this one act as a way to overturn the moon’s topsoil, with the lunar surface being reshaped every 80,000 years by ejected material, faster than previously believed. He also dispelled the myth that the footprints of Apollo moonwalkers will endure forever, stating they will disappear within that timeframe.
The next phase involves assessing the risk of ejected crater materials hitting NASA’s proposed moon base to inform engineers on reinforcing structures to mitigate potential damage concerns.
