According to the latest NASA study, the Moon would becomposed of about 60% proto-terrestrial material“, against 30% for the initial theories.
From the Earth to the Moon there is only one step. A recent study offers new hypotheses about one of the greatest mysteries of our solar system: the origin of the formation of the Moon. According to researchers from NASA and the University of Durham (United Kingdom), the composition of the satellite would be close to that of the Earth. Their work has been published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on Tuesday, October 4th.
This new hypothesis offers a somewhat different scenario from the old studies. Since the 1970s, there has been a consensus among scientists that the Moon was born 4.5 billion years ago, following an impact between Earth and a Mars-sized protoplanet called Theia. . This planet embryo coming from nowhere would have struck the Earth, which was then “an ocean of magma“, according to Francis Rocard, planetologist of the National Center for Space Studies (Cnes).
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According to the current consensus, our satellite would have been formed from the debris resulting from the collision of the bodies. In orbit around the Earth, they would have grouped together over months, even years, to form the Moon. This scenario therefore hypothesizes that the Moon would beessentially composed of materials from Théia“, explains Frédéric Moynier, professor at the University of Paris Cité at the Institut de physique du globe de Paris (IPGP).
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“60% proto-terrestrial materials”
However, these theories are not compatible with the latest analyzes of lunar samples reported during the Apollo missions. According to the scientists, similarities exist between the composition of the satellite and that of the Earth. The latest NASA study published on October 4 confirms these assertions.
With the aid of “super computerto advanced technology, the researchers were able to establish a new hypothesis, schematized in a video posted on NASA’s Twitter account. The Moon would have formed in just a few hours, and would becomposed of about 60% proto-terrestrial material“, against 30% for the initial theories.
The video simulation shows that after the impact, a body would have extracted itself from the earth’s material and then moved away. It is this body which will quickly become the Moon. This new scenario, if confirmed, is consistent with the analyzes which show that “the oxygen isotopic composition of the Moon is the same as that of Earth“, emphasizes Frédéric Moynier.
Theories to be confirmed
However, the NASA study remains a hypothesis and remains “very theoreticalwarns Frédéric Moynier. “We must allow time for the experts to discuss and find a consensus that will either confirm or criticize“this scenario, tempers Francis Rocard who assures”that it takes four to five years for specialists to agree“. Moreover, for Frédéric Moynier, certain thermochemical aspects “do not appear. In particular the fact that the Moon is very dry: poor in water and volatile compounds. A major constraint».
These many questions still pending are “one of the reasons to return to the Moon», indicates Frédéric Moynier. The entire surface of the satellite was not exploited by the Apollo program. In particular the “dark side” and the “poleswhich have not been explored by humans or robots, recalls Francis Rocard. This is therefore the objective of the Artemis mission, which focuses on the South Pole of the star. Its launch initially scheduled for the end of August has been postponed to November 14, with two fallback dates, November 16 and 19.
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The goal of Artemis III will be to bring back new lunar samples that can confirm or invalidate recent NASA theories. “The first samples will certainly reach us between 2026 and 2027“says Francis Rocard. “The more we learn about the birth of the Moon, the more we discover the evolution of our own Earth. Their histories are intertwined – and could find echoes in histories of other planets altered by similar or very different collisions”said Vincent Eke, researcher at Durham University and co-author of the study.