Lunar Samples Identify Exactly When the Moon's Largest Crater Formed

The South Pole-Aitken Basin (SPA), the largest and oldest known impact crater on the lunar surface, was formed 4.25 billion years ago.

Lunar Samples Identify Exactly When the Moon's Largest Crater Formed

China’s Chang’e-6 mission has been exploring the largest crater on the Moon. It’s known as Aitken Basin and is found at the South Pole of the Moon where craters are permanently shadowed. The crater is a whopping 2,500 km across and measures 10km deep and Chang’e-6 data has revealed that a giant asteroid smashed into the Moon about 4.25 billion years ago.

A research team led by Chen Yi, from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, reached that conclusion after analyzing the first rock samples collected at the site by the Chinese Chang'e 6 mission. That crater, on the so-called hidden side of the Moon because it cannot be seen from Earth, is thought to have formed during a period of intense asteroid bombardment that shaped much of the solar system in its first f…

China's Chang'e-6 probe has made a historic achievement by obtaining samples from the far side of the Moon for the first time. The data has allowed researchers to accurately determine the age of a huge crater, the South Pole-Aitken basin. This crater, one of the largest in our solar system, was formed more than 4 billion years ago by a powerful collision with a space object. During that turbulent time,... The post Chinese probe reveals when the …

The South Pole-Aitken Basin (SPA), the largest and oldest impact crater known on the lunar surface, was formed 4.25 billion years ago. This is revealed by the analysis of the first rock samples brought to the Earth from the SPA basin by the Chinese Chang'e-6 mission, which has been published in the National Science Review magazine by a research team led by Professor Chen Yi of the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sci…

Chang'e-6 samples pinpoint moon's oldest crater to 4.25 billion years ago

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Mar 21, 2025 Chinese scientists have precisely dated the moon's oldest and largest impact feature, the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin, to 4.25 billion years ago using lunar samples returned by the Chang'e-6 mission. This result offers critical insights into the moon's formative history and the early development of the solar system. A research team led by Chen Yi from the Institute of Geology and Geophys