Artemis-II Astronauts Spot Five Flashes on Moon: NASA Explains Mysterious Lunar Impacts
Artemis-II astronauts spotted five faint flashes on the Moon while orbiting its far side. NASA confirmed the bursts were caused by tiny space rocks slamming into the lunar surface at enormous speeds.
Artemis-II astronauts witnessed five faint flashes on the Moon during their journey around the lunar surface, giving scientists a rare glimpse of tiny space rocks striking Earth's natural satellite.
The flashes were recorded during the mission's April 2026 lunar flyby, when astronauts were specifically asked to watch for brief bursts caused by impacts. Despite being nearly 74,000 kilometres away, the crew managed to spot five extremely faint flashes.
NASA scientists determined that the bursts were caused by small rocky fragments, likely only a few inches across, hitting the Moon at thousands of miles per hour. The Moon has virtually no atmosphere, unlike Earth, so incoming space debris does not burn up before reaching its surface.
The observations were made while the Orion spacecraft was travelling over the Moon's far side during a communications blackout. The timing also coincided with a total solar eclipse, when the Moon blocked the Sun and created unusually dark conditions that made the faint flashes easier to see.
Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen recorded the locations of the flashes on a tablet during the observation.
Scientists initially considered other possible explanations, including cosmic rays and reflections from the spacecraft, before confirming that the flashes were genuine lunar impacts.
The observations could help researchers determine how frequently small objects hit the Moon. That information is increasingly important as NASA plans longer-term human activity on the lunar surface.
Understanding the frequency and energy of these impacts could help engineers assess potential risks to future astronauts, habitats, scientific instruments and other lunar infrastructure. What looked like tiny flashes from orbit could therefore offer valuable clues about one of the hazards facing humanity's return to the Moon.
