New research shows that when an asteroid slammed into the moon billions of years ago, it carved out a pair of grand canyons on the far side. That’s good news for NASA, which is looking to land astronauts at the south pole on the near, Earth-facing side later this decade. Because the debris went elsewhere, the moon’s south pole contains older rocks that could be collected by moonwalkers. The incoming object created an impact basin and sent streams of rocks hurtling like missiles. Within minutes, two canyons comparable in size to Arizona’s Grand Canyon were formed. New research shows that when an asteroid slammed into the moon billions of years ago, it carved out a pair of grand canyons on the far side. That’s good news for NASA, which is looking to land astronauts at the south pole on the near, Earth-facing side later this decade. Because the debris went elsewhere, the moon’s south pole contains older rocks that could be collected by moonwalkers. The incoming object created an impact basin and sent streams of rocks hurtling like missiles. Within minutes, two canyons comparable in size to Arizona’s Grand Canyon were formed. AP Technology and Science
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