Impact occurred on March 4, 2022, with NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) later spotting the resulting crater.

This animated GIF confirms the location of the newly formed rocket body double crater.

The double crater was unexpected and may indicate that the rocket body had large masses at each end.

Since the origin of the rocket body remains uncertain, the double nature of the crater may indicate its identity.

A rocket body impacted the Moon on March 4, 2022, near Hertzsprung crater, creating a double crater roughly 28 meters wide in the longest dimension.

Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University.

The maximum width (29 meters, about 31.7 yards) of the double crater of the mystery rocket body was near that of the S-IVBs.

These four images show craters formed by impacts of the Apollo SIV-B stages: crater diameters range from 35 to 40 meters (38.2 to 43.7 yards) in the longest dimension.

Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University.

The crater formed (5.226 degrees north, 234.486 degrees east, 1,863 meters elevation) in a complex area where the impact of ejecta from the Orientale basin event overlies the degraded northeast rim of Hertzsprung basin (536 kilometers (333 miles) diameter).

Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University.

Full resolution (100 cm pixels) image centered on the new rocket body impact double crater.

Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University.