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Geological studies of the Moon are based on a combination of Earth-based telescope observations, measurements from orbiting spacecraft, lunar samples, and geophysical data. . Six locations were sampled directly during the crewed Apollo program landings from 1969 to 1972, which returned 382 kilograms (842 lb) of lunar rock and lunar soil to Earth [8] In addition, three robotic Soviet Luna ...
Various isotopes of oxygen are present on the Moon in the form of 16 O, 17 O, and 18 O. [28] At least twenty different possible processes for extracting oxygen from lunar regolith have been described, [29] [30] and all require high energy input: between 2–4 megawatt-years of energy (i.e. (6–12) × 10 13 J) to produce 1,000 tons of oxygen. [1]
The Moon's heavily cratered far-side. The origin of the Moon is usually explained by a Mars-sized body striking the Earth, creating a debris ring that eventually collected into a single natural satellite, the Moon, but there are a number of variations on this giant-impact hypothesis, as well as alternative explanations, and research continues into how the Moon came to be formed.
The huge indent, called the 'imbrue basin,' stretches across 750 miles.
The Pre-Nectarian period is defined from the point at which the lunar crust formed, to the time of the Nectaris impact event. Nectaris is a multi-ring impact basin that formed on the near side of the Moon, and its ejecta blanket serves as a useful stratigraphic marker. 30 impact basins from this period are recognized, the oldest of which is the South Pole–Aitken basin.
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The main repository for the Apollo Moon rocks is the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. For safekeeping, there is also a smaller collection stored at White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Most of the rocks are stored in nitrogen to keep them free of moisture.
The object that struck the moon is estimated to have been about 15 miles (25 km) in diameter, larger than the asteroid that struck Earth 66 million years ago and doomed the dinosaurs.