The Grand Canyon of the United States is one of the largest canyons in the world. It was formed after millions of years of erosion by fast-flowing rivers. There are also two such grand canyons on the far side of the moon, but they were formed in less than 10 minutes. A research report published in the British magazine "Nature Communications" on the 4th showed that an asteroid hit the moon about 3.8 billion years ago, splashing a large number of rocks. After these high-speed flying rocks fell, they collided with two large canyons on the moon's surface.
Researchers from the American Universities Space Research Association analyzed the lunar images and data obtained by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, and used computer models to analyze the flight direction and speed of the impact debris that year, and came to the above conclusion.
Researchers speculate that the asteroid that hit the moon that year was about 25 kilometers in diameter. After hitting the moon at a speed of 55,000 kilometers per hour, it formed an impact basin with a diameter of 320 kilometers on the far side of the moon near the South Pole. The flow of rocks thrown up by the impact swept across the lunar surface at a high speed of 1 kilometer per second, forming two deep and long canyons extending outward from the impact basin.
A press release issued by the American Universities Space Research Association said that the two grand canyons are 2.7 to 3.5 kilometers deep, 20 to 27 kilometers wide, and 270 to 860 kilometers long.
The Grand Canyon of the United States is about 1.8 kilometers deep, 6.4 to 29 kilometers wide, and more than 440 kilometers long. This Grand Canyon, which is included in the World Natural Heritage List, took millions of years to form, but the two Grand Canyons on the moon were formed in less than 10 minutes. David Kling, the lead author of the study report and a geographer at the Lunar and Planetary Institute of the American University Space Research Association, said that the formation of the two grand canyons was a "very violent and very dramatic" process.
The huge energy required to form two grand canyons in such a short period of time is equivalent to more than 130 times the total energy of the world's current nuclear weapons.
The new discovery may be good news for America's upcoming lunar mission. The United States plans to return to the moon in the next few years, sending astronauts to land near the moon's south pole and collect lunar rock samples. Researchers said that the asteroid impact exposed ancient rocks originally buried under the lunar soil or brought them close to the lunar surface, making it easier for astronauts to collect them.