文中指出，未来月球活动的环境风险中，meteorite impacts 是与 moonquakes 并列的核心议题；天文与航太单位已长期监测撞击频率，并以这类观测来修正模型。地球因大气层可阻挡多数陨石体，只有较大者才到达地表；月球没有这层保护，任一碎片都会落上月面。文中提到“数亿”陨石坑，反映长期累积且高频的撞击背景。
NASA 的风险评估显示，速度达数十公里每秒的微陨石即可刺穿薄材质或损坏关键设备；表面尺寸超过几厘米的碎片可成为高能投射物；超过 1 公尺尺度的天体虽极为罕见，仍可直接形成撞坑。对应对策包括为未来航太服加装多层防护与压力感测器、在栖息舱暴露区域增加屏蔽，甚至在洞穴与陨坑内建立研究设施。尽管仅不到一天内录得 6 次发光，NASA 仍认为这不代表未来任务风险上升，因为数十年来未有载人任务在背面完全黑暗下直接看到此现象，这次首次让人类实时目击了月面持续受击。
During Artemis II’s far-side flyby, the four crew aboard Orion reported up to six brief flashes from the lunar surface, each lasting under 1 second and appearing white or blue-white. The events occurred while the spacecraft was about 6,000–7,000 km from the surface and the far side was in total darkness during a solar eclipse, creating high visual contrast for human observers; the documented camera system did not capture the flashes. NASA later confirmed they were natural meteorite impacts.
The article frames meteorite impacts as one of the two major lunar environmental risks, alongside moonquakes. Astronomy and space agencies have long tracked impact frequencies and use sightings like these to refine models. Earth’s atmosphere destroys most incoming meteorites, so only larger ones reach the ground, but the Moon has no such shielding, allowing any fragment to strike the surface. The mention of “hundreds of millions” of lunar craters is used as evidence of high cumulative impact activity over time.
NASA risk guidance highlights that micrometeorites moving at tens of kilometers per second can puncture thin materials or damage vital systems; fragments larger than centimeters can behave like high-energy projectiles, while objects larger than 1 meter can form craters, though such large events are very rare. Mitigations include multilayer suit layers with pressure sensors, added shielding in exposed habitat zones, and even building facilities in caves or crater walls. Although six luminous impacts were seen in less than one day, NASA said this does not imply a higher overall mission risk, noting the unusual aspect was that this is the first time in decades that a crew has directly observed real-time impacts from the lunar far side in complete darkness.