The Moon's Largest Crater Has Something Odd Going on
The gravitational interaction between the Earth and Moon has led to one hemisphere of the Moon being locked facing away from Earth.
The Moon does rotate, it just takes as long to rotate once on its axis as it takes to complete an orbit of Earth, known as synchronous rotation.
The South Pole-Aitken Basin
This massive crater, spanning over 1,930 km from north to south and 1,600 km east to west, is located on the far side of the Moon.
It formed roughly 4.3 billion years ago when a giant asteroid delivered a glancing blow to the young Moon.
A new study from the University of Arizona reveals that this colossal crater holds secrets about the Moon's formation and early evolution.
Jeffrey Andrews-Hanna and his colleagues made the discovery by carefully analyzing the shape of the South Pole-Aitken basin.
Astronauts are heading to the South Pole-Aitken basin to uncover its secrets.
Author's summary: Astronauts are heading to the Moon's largest crater.