Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
Over 4.3 billion years ago, a colossal object struck the Moon—forming its largest crater ever.
Representative pic
Scientists believe the South Pole-Aitken Basin may hold frozen remnants of a lunar magma ocean.
The impact likely exposed deep mantle material, offering a rare peek into the Moon’s molten past.
That basin may contain KREEP-rich materials—chemical leftovers from the Moon’s earliest days.
The basin’s odd shape hints at an angled impact, not head-on—reshaping theories on lunar collisions.
By dating materials in the basin, scientists hope to pin down the final phase of the magma ocean.
The basin could confirm how lighter minerals floated to form crust, while heavy ones sank into the mantle.
NASA’s Artemis astronauts may soon collect samples from this region for the first time in history.
These rocks might not just explain the Moon—they could illuminate how Earth itself was formed.