Ancient Asteroid Smashed Into The Moon Carving Out Grand Canyon-Sized Craters, Study Says

If you've seen photos of the far side of the moon, specifically of two long canyons within what is called the Schrödinger basin and wondered what created them, look no further—researches have determined that ejecta from an ancient asteroid strike carved out the grand canyons (Vallis Schrödinger and Vallis Planck) in less than 10 minutes. This discovery could help NASA determine ideal locations for future rock collection missions, including by humans on upcoming Artemis flights.

About 3.8 billion years ago, an asteroid 15 miles (25 kilometers) across slammed into the far side of the moon at a speed of about 1 mile per second. As it impacted at what is now known as the Schrödinger basin crater, ejecta was shot out like missiles and in the process carved two radiating canyons—Vallis Schrödinger and Vallis Planck—in less than 10 minutes. David Kring, leader author of the study at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, TX, said that "this was a very violent, a very dramatic geologic process."

Kring's team reckons that the amount of energy it took to create the canyons would be greater than 130 times that of our planet's current inventory of nuclear weapons. The two gorges carved by asteroid debris are roughly the size of the Grand Canyon in Arizona (which took roughly five to six million years to form), with Vallis Schrödinger at 168 miles (270 kilometers) long and 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers) deep, and Vallis Planck being 174 miles (280 kilometers) long and 2.2 miles (3.5 kilometers) deep. In comparison, Earth's Grand Canyon is 278 miles (447 kilometers) long, with an average depth of one mile (1.6 kilometers). 

The research determined that the asteroid crossed over the moon's south pole and when it impacted, threw debris away from the south pole. This is great news for NASA since this area, being part of future exploration plans, will not be covered in foreign material and will have the benefit of exposed rock strata. Moon rock in the area is believed to be older than 4 billion years, which should definitely help in understanding the moon's formative years, among other things.

The moon race is currently hot between multiple space agencies, primarily to bring humans back to the lunar surface. NASA's Artemis program seeks to succeed the infamous Apollo missions, while China is prepping to bring humans to the moon by 2030.