A Mystery Rocket Crashed into Moon and Left a 'Double Crater,' NASA says

NASA has identified the crash site of a mysterious rocket that slammed into the far side of the moon in March, leaving a double crater in its wake.

The unusual crater was revealed in new images taken on May 25 and shared by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter on June 24. The collision created two overlapping impact sites: an eastern crater 59 feet (18 meters) across and a western crater 52.5 feet across (16 meters).

After discovering an unidentified piece of space junk on a collision course with the moon late last year, astronomers predicted the impact. However, "the double crater was unexpected," according to the space agency in a press release. "There have been no other rocket body impacts on the moon that have resulted in double craters."

NASA believes the two craters were caused by two large masses on each end of the rocket, but this is unusual because spent rockets typically have a heavy motor at one end and a lighter empty fuel tank at the other.

According to Arizona State University data from 2016, at least 47 NASA rocket bodies have caused "spacecraft impacts" on the moon.

"I must admit that I had naively assumed it would be easier to find and would have been located shortly after impact," Bill Gray, the astronomer who discovered the mysterious object and alerted NASA to its eventual collision, wrote on his blog Project Pluto, where he uses software to track near-Earth objects.