NASA’s account yesterday describes McGetchin crater: 222 meters wide and 43 meters deep, formed sometime between April 11 and May 22, 2024. The impact was found later in Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter imagery; this week’s research explains what it did to the surrounding ground. NASA, September 16
The crater is impressive, but the thermal footprint is stranger. A cold patch extends roughly four miles across, with nighttime temperatures about 16°F lower than the surroundings. The impact appears to have loosened the surface material, making it retain less heat.
That means an impact can substantially alter terrain well beyond the visible excavation. The implications include the footing a future rover might encounter, not just what an orbital photograph shows. The before-and-after images are worth opening: a familiar-looking lunar surface abruptly acquires a very recent event.