South Korea's first lunar orbiter, Danuri, successfully captured footage of the moment when debris from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket slammed into the Moon earlier this week, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) announced on Thursday.
The upper stage of the Falcon 9, which had been adrift in space since a 2015 mission, collided with the lunar surface on March 4, 2022, creating a crater estimated to be 10 to 20 meters wide. Danuri, which entered lunar orbit in December 2022, was positioned to record the impact using its high-resolution camera.
KARI officials said the footage provides valuable data for scientists studying lunar impacts and the behavior of space debris. The agency released the video on its official channels, showing a bright flash at the moment of collision.
This marks the first time a South Korean spacecraft has filmed such an event, highlighting Danuri's capabilities in lunar observation.
