NASA Supercomputer Has Theory on Moon’s Formation

In one of the highest resolution simulations of the Moon’s formation, a new NASA and Durham University supercomputer tells a different story of its origin: the Lunar surface may have formed in a matter of hours after a collision when material from the Earth and a Mars-sized body were launched directly into orbit.

“This opens up a whole new range of possible starting places for the Moon’s evolution,” said Jacob Kegerreis , a postdoctoral researcher at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.