New Supercomputer Simulation Sheds Light on Moon’s Origin.

A new NASA and Durham University simulation puts forth a different theory of the Moon’s origin – the Moon may have formed in a matter of hours, when material from the Earth and a Mars sized-body were launched directly into orbit after the impact. The simulations used in this research are some of the most detailed of their kind, operating at the highest resolution of any simulation run to study the Moon’s origins or other giant impacts.

Credit: NASA/Durham University/Jacob Kedgerees Music Provided by Universal Production Music: Geno sequence by Alessandro Rizzo.

NASA's Ames Research Center is located in California's Silicon Valley.