Moon's South Pole-Aitken basin formed by differentiated asteroid impact
Updated
Updated · Space.com · May 7
Moon's South Pole-Aitken basin formed by differentiated asteroid impact
7 articles · Updated · Space.com · May 7
Simulations led by Purdue's Shigeru Wakita suggest a 260km-wide asteroid struck the moon's far side north-to-south at 13km per second and a 30-degree angle.
Researchers said the impactor's iron core created the basin's tapered-ellipse shape, while mantle material was blasted toward the lunar south pole.
That could let NASA's Artemis 4 astronauts, now targeted for no earlier than 2028, sample deep lunar material and help date the basin and probe the moon's interior.
Can new AI models pinpoint where a giant impact left clues to the Moon's core?
Will Artemis astronauts find ancient mantle rocks instead of the water ice they need?
Does a new age for the Moon's largest crater upend our theory of the solar system's violent youth?
Differentiated Asteroid Impact at 30° Angle Formed Moon’s South Pole–Aitken Basin, Unlocking Deep Lunar Mantle
Overview
A groundbreaking study revealed that the Moon's South Pole–Aitken basin was formed over 4 billion years ago by a large, differentiated asteroid striking at a shallow angle. This impact caused the asteroid's rocky mantle to vaporize while its dense iron core penetrated deep into the Moon, creating the basin's unique elliptical shape and ejecting deep mantle material toward the south pole. The intense heat from the impact triggered mantle convection, concentrating heat-producing elements under the nearside and fueling prolonged volcanism, while leaving the farside depleted. NASA's Artemis missions will target the thorium-rich ejecta at the south pole to sample ancient mantle material, promising new insights into lunar history and evolution.