Lunar radar data unleashes clues about the moon’s ancient past
Immortalized in images of “Apollo astronauts” lunar footprints, the dusty surface of the moon formed as the result of asteroid impacts and the harsh environment of space breaking down rock over millions of years. An archaic layer of this material, covered by periodic lava flows and now buried under the lunar surface, could provide new insight into the Moon’s deep past, according to a team of scientists. A team, led by Zhu, conducted a new analysis of radar data collected by China’s Change 3 mission in 2013, which performed the first direct ground radar measurements on the moon. “Using careful…