00:00 NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has captured a new image of a crater on the
00:07 moon, which is believed to be the result of Russia's Luna 25 mission.
00:12 The LRO's most recent before image was taken in June 2022.
00:18 It indicated that the crater formed some time after that date.
00:22 The Luna 25 mission experienced an anomaly during its descent, causing it to impact the
00:27 moon's surface.
00:29 The LRO team believes that the newly formed crater is likely the result of this impact
00:34 rather than a natural occurrence.
00:37 This conclusion is based on the proximity of the new crater to the estimated impact
00:41 point of the Luna 25 mission.
00:43 Russia's space agency Roscosmos published an estimate of the impact point on August
00:49 21.
00:50 The LRO camera team and the LRO mission operations team were able to design and send commands
00:56 to the LRO spacecraft on August 22 to capture images of the site.
01:01 The LROC team compared images taken prior to the impact time and the sequence taken
01:07 after and found a small new crater.
01:10 According to NASA, the new crater measures approximately 10 meters in diameter and is
01:15 located at 57.865 degrees south latitude and 61.360 degrees east longitude on the moon.
01:25 The American space agency said that the crater sits at an elevation of about -360 meters.
01:31 Interestingly, the impact point was on the steep inner rim of the Ponticulant G crater.
01:39 Ponticulant is a prominent lunar impact crater that is located on the southeastern part of
01:44 the moon.
01:45 The Ponticulant G crater has a grade greater than 20 degrees.
01:50 This location is about 400 kilometers short of Lunar 25's intended landing point at 69.545
01:58 degrees south and 43.544 degrees east.
02:03 The LRO is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
02:07 It has been operational since June 18, 2009.
02:10 It has been instrumental in mapping the moon's surface and providing invaluable data about
02:15 Earth's closest celestial neighbor.
02:18 The LRO is currently funded to operate through September of 2025, continuing its mission
02:24 to explore and document the lunar surface.
02:33 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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