A giant impact crater on the moon may contain primordial pieces of the lunar mantle and remnants of an ancient magma ocean, researchers say. Crewmembers on upcoming Artemis missions could potentially ...

A tiny glass bead retrieved by China's Chang'e-5 lunar mission is offering scientists a glimpse into the moon's hidden depths and providing insight into the violent forces that helped shape the ...

The loss of the magma played a crucial role in the moon's landscape formation. There was once a magma-filled ocean on the south pole of the moon, scientists recently discovered after analyzing ...

The team of Indian researchers analyzed Chandrayaan-3 to find signs of ferroan anorthosite, a rock thought to be pieces of the original lunar crust that could have been formed by a magma ocean.

As the magma ocean cooled, crystals formed within it. Some rocks and minerals like ferroan anorthosite rose to the top to form the lunar crust and highlands, while other, denser magnesium-rich ...

The lunar magma ocean is thought to have been present from its formation to tens or hundreds of millions of years afterwards. The cooling and crystallisation of this magma ocean eventually led to ...

As Santosh Vadawale, the lead author on the paper, explains to Popular Science, one key aspect of the theory is the “lunar magma ocean hypothesis.” The energy released by the cataclysmic ...

The moon was once covered by an ocean of molten rock, data from India's space mission suggests Story by ... On Aug. 23 2023, a lander called Vikram successfully touched down on the lunar surface.

While the lunar magma ocean hypothesis has existed for decades, ever since the Apollo mission placed humans on the moon in 1969, the new research has allowed researchers to confirm the ...