New research has revealed that a massive asteroid impact billions of years ago created two significant canyons on the moon’s far side. This discovery is encouraging for both scientists and NASA, which is preparing to send astronauts to the moon’s south pole—an area largely unaffected by this ancient impact and home to older, unspoiled rocks.
U.S. and British scientists utilized images and data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to study the region and trace the path of debris generated by the asteroid, believed to be around 15 miles wide, that struck the moon approximately 3.8 billion years ago. Their findings were shared recently in the journal Nature Communications.
When the asteroid hit, it generated a massive basin and propelled large boulders at speeds nearing one mile per second, effectively carving out two canyons comparable in size to the renowned Grand Canyon in just about 10 minutes. In contrast, the Grand Canyon took millions of years to form through natural processes.
David Kring, the lead author of the study from the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, characterized the event as a “very violent, very dramatic geologic process.” He noted that the force required for the creation of these canyons surpassed the total energy contained in the world’s current nuclear arsenal.
Importantly, most of the debris ejected by the impact was directed away from the lunar south pole. As a result, NASA’s planned exploration zone around the pole, located on the near side of the moon, is unlikely to be buried in debris. This means that older rocks, dating back over 4 billion years, will remain accessible for collection by future astronauts. Studying these ancient rocks could provide valuable insights into both the moon’s history and that of our planet.
Kring mentioned that it’s still uncertain if the newly formed canyons are in areas that remain permanently shadowed, similar to some craters at the moon’s south pole. Such shadowed regions are believed to harbor ice, which could be useful as drinking water or fuel for future missions.
NASA’s Artemis program aims to return astronauts to the moon within this decade, with plans for a lunar flyby next year followed by the first lunar landing since the Apollo missions a year or so later. This renewed focus on lunar exploration could pave the way for further scientific discoveries about our celestial neighbor and its ties to Earth.
