New computer simulations indicate that a massive ancient collision created the Moon's South Pole-Aitken Basin and scattered deep mantle material across areas eyed for future Artemis landings.
Researchers from the Center for Lunar Origin and Evolution at the Southwest Research Institute used modeling to reconstruct the event. The studies show a low-angle strike by a differentiated object with an iron core produced the Basin's elongated shape and ejected crustal and mantle rocks.
Dr. William Bottke, director of the center, said the collision may have excavated portions of the lunar mantle. Deposits of this material appear mixed throughout the Basin and its ejecta blanket, with some potentially reachable in south polar regions.
Companion papers published in Science Advances and the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets detail how later impacts could have brought mantle rocks to the surface. The findings provide targets for robotic and crewed missions to study the Moon's early history.
