---
title: "NASA Found The Impact From Israel’s Crashed Moon Lander"
description: "## Found Footage"
date: "2019-05-16"
modified: "2019-05-16"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-impact-israel-crashed-moon-lander"
categories:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Moon"
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "NASA"
  - "space"
  - "the digest"
---

# NASA Found The Impact From Israel’s Crashed Moon Lander

![A NASA satellite managed to photograph the site where Beresheet, the Israeli lunar lander, crashed into the Moon last month.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/nasa-impact-israel-crashed-moon-lander.png>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Found Footage

Last month, Israel's SpaceIL very nearly became the first private company to land a spacecraft on the Moon. Unfortunately, Beresheet — that's the lunar lander — suffered a [last-minute engine failure](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/beresheet-lunar-lander-crashed>) and crashed.

Now, *CNET* [reports that](<https://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-spots-site-of-israels-heartbreaking-moon-lander-crash/>) NASA managed to snap a photo of the crash site using the camera on its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and has begun to study the impact, which could potentially help the space agency [track down missing equipment](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/tough-nasa-sensor-survived-moon-lander-crash>) that Beresheet was carrying to the Moon.

## Aftermath

At 56 miles above the lunar surface, the LRO was too far away to tell how deep of a crater Beresheet left, according to *CNET*. But it did reveal that the Israeli spacecraft left a 33-foot-long impact on the Moon's surface when it crashed.

"From so far away, LROC could not detect whether Beresheet formed a surface crater upon impact. It's possible the crater is just too small to show up in photos," reads a [NASA press release](<https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/lro-beresheet-impact-site-spotted>).

According to the release, it's possible that Beresheet simply left a small dent in the surface of the Moon instead of carving out a crater, but NASA won’t know for sure until it takes a closer look.

**READ MORE:** [NASA spots site of Israel's heartbreaking moon lander crash](<https://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-spots-site-of-israels-heartbreaking-moon-lander-crash/>) \[*CNET*\]

**More on Beresheet:** *[After Failed Moon Landing, Israel Vows to Try Again](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/failed-moon-landing-israel-beresheet-2>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)