Minuscule meteoroids slamming into the lunar surface could be kicking up most of the atoms that make up the lunar exosphere.
Moon
Posted inEditors' Highlights
New Moonquakes from Old Data
Almost 50 years after they were turned off, the Apollo seismometers still have secrets to reveal.
Posted inNews
Lunar Lava Tube Revealed Beneath Collapsed Pit
The Sea of Tranquility is home to at least one lunar lava tube, which could preserve a pristine and unweathered record of lunar volcanism.
Posted inFeatures
The Past, Present, and Future of Extraterrestrial Sample Return
Retrieving samples from distant solar system bodies has revolutionized our understanding of the cosmos and our place in it.
Posted inNews
First Samples from the Moon’s Farside Return on Chang’e-6
These samples could provide novel geologic insight into the Moon’s formation and history.
Posted inFeatures
The Art of Doing Fieldwork on the Moon
How early-career planetary scientists are preparing to support the astronauts who will return to the lunar surface and beyond.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Earth’s Subduction May Have Been Triggered by the Same Event That Formed the Moon
The giant impact that formed the Moon may also have led to extrastrong mantle plumes that enabled the first subduction event, kick-starting Earth’s unique system of sliding plates.
Posted inNews
The Moon’s Mantle Did a Flip—and Scientists May Now Have Evidence
For decades, a lunar whodunit has puzzled scientists: Did the Moon’s internal layers flip during its formation? Old data might hold the evidence to solve this cold case.
Posted inNews
Moonlit Nights Change a Coral Reef’s Tune
Some reef fish get chattier when the Moon is out, while feisty snapping shrimp and other invertebrates pipe down.
Posted inNews
Fiber-Optic Networks Could Reveal the Moon’s Inner Structure
Distributed acoustic sensing offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional seismic arrays, and building such a network on the Moon might be possible.