The crust beneath the Moon's heavily battered surface is almost entirely pulverized, indicating that it took an even greater beating from space debris during the Solar System's first billion years than planetary scientists suspected.
Maria Zuber at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and her colleagues report these and other findings from NASA's twin lunar-orbiting spacecraft, known as GRAIL, in a trio of articles. The twin craft probe the Moon's interior by mapping the lunar gravitational field. GRAIL data have also revealed that the Moon's average crust is considerably thinner than previously estimated — measuring between 34 and 43 kilometres — suggesting that some of the fracturing caused by space debris could have penetrated the full depth of the crust and into the mantle. Such deep fracturing, which would also be expected on Earth and Mars, could have created porous structures that held hot groundwater for long periods, providing possible niches for life in the early Solar System.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Surprises beneath Moon's surface. Nature 492, 157 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/492157c
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/492157c
