Scientists have discovered that the Moon’s south pole was once covered by an ocean of molten rock, supporting the Lunar Magma Ocean theory, which suggests the Moon’s surface formed from magma around 4.5 billion years ago.

This finding was made by India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission, which landed on the Moon’s south pole in August 2023.

The mission, a historic first for exploring this isolated region, found evidence of ferroan anorthosite, a mineral that floated to the Moon’s surface as it cooled.

The mission also uncovered signs of a massive meteorite impact four billion years ago that created the South Pole–Aitken basin, one of the largest craters in the solar system.

Scientists believe that material from deep within the Moon was thrown up by the impact, the BBC has reported.

These discoveries could pave the way for future missions and the potential discovery of ice water on the Moon, which would be crucial for establishing a human base. India plans another lunar mission in 2025 or 2026 to collect and return samples for further analysis.

Written by B.C. Begley