Sometimes space exploration doesn't go as planned. But even in failure, engineers can learn, adapt, and try again. One of the ...

The moon’s oldest and largest crater didn’t form in the way astronomers thought, according to a detailed analysis of its shape, which would rewrite the moon’s early history. The South Pole-Aitken (SPA ...

The moon's heavily cratered surface serves as a testament to how Earth's closest celestial neighbor has become a figurative magnet for space rocks during its 4.5 billion-year history. One of the best ...

Scientists have found that we may have been wrong about how the Moon’s largest crater, the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin, formed roughly 4.3 billion years ago. As detailed in a new paper published in ...

American astronauts who return to the moon's surface in the years ahead for the first time in more than half a century will have the difficult and unprecedented task of setting the stage for a ...

When astronauts land near the moon's south pole as part of NASA's Artemis program in a few years, they likely will find themselves in an unexpected treasure trove of clues that could help scientists ...

New research reveals the Moon's colossal South Pole-Aitken basin was formed by an asteroid striking from the north, not the south as long believed. This discovery reshapes our understanding of lunar ...

U.S. astronauts who return to the moon’s surface in the years ahead for the first time in more than half a century will have the difficult and unprecedented task of setting the stage for a permanent ...

The South Pole-Aitken impact basin on the far side of the Moon formed in a southward impact (toward the bottom in the image). The basin has a radioactive “KREEP-rich” ejecta blanket on one side of the ...

As astronauts prepare for south-polar landings, a new look at the Moon’s biggest crater points to a pivotal moment in lunar history—and to the rocks you’ll want sampled next. A study led by Jeffrey ...