NASA has some information based on more than fifty years of research and exploration of the moon. Impact theory says that two planets collided billions of years ago causing parts of both to combine and form a smaller sphere that orbits the larger one.

1. Birth of Earth’s Moon
• Collision Theory
• Collected By
• Kella Randolph, M. Ed.
• Graphic courtesy of NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/artists_concept_of_collision_at_hd_172555.jpg

2. https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/pictures/70000/velka/night-sky-with-moon-and-stars.jpg

3. NASA finds evidence
two early planets
collided to form
Moon
When we see the Moon in the night sky,
it looks so old that it seems like it has
always been there. But how did the Moon
originally form? The findings from a new
NASA lunar rock study provide evidence
for a theory the Moon was created after
another planet smashed into a young,
molten Earth billions of years ago. (Text:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-finds-
evidence-two-early-planets-collided-to-
form-moon)
https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/0123_IMPACT-apv6-b-2nhagit.jpg

4. How the Moon Formed: Lunar Rocks Support
Giant Impact Theory
• The Earth's moon is thought to have formed
when a Mars-sized object, called Theia,
slammed into the early Earth 4.5 billion years
ago, blasting out material that later coalesced
into a large satellite as depicted in this artist's
illustration. A new analysis of lunar rocks adds
new support to this Giant Impact Hypothesis.
(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
• A new analysis of lunar rocks now supports
the idea that the moon was born in a gigantic
collision between the nascent Earth and a
mysterious planet-size rock, scientists say.
• Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago, and
scientists think the moon came into being
shortly afterward. The prevailing explanation
for the moon's origin, known as the Giant
Impact Hypothesis, is that it resulted from
two protoplanets (or embryonic worlds) that
slammed together — the Earth as it was
forming, and a Mars-size object called Theia.
A lot of debris went on to form the moon.
• https://www.space.com/26142-moon-formation-giant-impact-theory-support.html

5. The Giant Impact
• Scientists have proposed many ideas for how the Moon formed. A
leading contender, the Giant Impact theory, speculates that when Earth
was a young planet and just beginning to form, it was hit by another
emerging planet named Theia, located nearby. The collision caused both
planets to temporarily splatter apart into globs of gas, magma, and
chemical elements before reforming into the bodies we know today to be
the Earth and Moon. The research by Simon and Gargano is adding
support that further confirms this theory. (Text:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-finds-evidence-two-early-planets-
collided-to-form-moon)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/Moon_-_Giant_Impact_Hypothesis_-_Simple_model.png/674px-Moon_-_Giant_Impact_Hypothesis_-_Simple_model.png

6. https://i.stack.imgur.com/iOuA0.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Earth_Rise_as_Seen_From_Lunar_Sur
face.jpg/1024px-Earth_Rise_as_Seen_From_Lunar_Surface.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Lunar_crater_Daedalus.jpg/1200px-
Lunar_crater_Daedalus.jpg

7. Copy and paste url below to a search bar for an interactive experience:
https://moon.nasa.gov/exploration/history/

8. Exploration of the Moon
Exploration Timeline
• January 4, 1959. First Flyby. ...
• March 4, 1959. Near Miss. ...
• September 13, 1959. Impact. ...
• October 7, 1959. "Dark Side" No More. ...
• July 31, 1964. Success at Last. ...
• March 24, 1965. Live from the Moon. ...
• July 20, 1965. Zond 3. ...
• June 2, 1966. Soft Landing.
• https://moon.nasa.gov/exploration/history/
Lunar timeline: humanity's
explorations of the moon
• Mar 15, 2021 — 1609: Hans
Lippershey invented the telescope.
1610: Italian astronomer Galileo
Galilei made the first telescopic
observation of the moon. 1610:
Thomas Harriot and Galileo Galilei
drew the first telescopic
representation of the moon. 1645:
Michael Florent van Langren made
the first map of the moon. By Space.com
Staff March 15, 2021https://www.space.com/12841-moon-
exploration-lunar-mission-timeline.html

9. More exploration
https://moon.nasa.gov/exploration/moon-missions/

10. Hands on Moon exploration
• NASA has a Scientific Visualization Studio so that you can see videos that show the phases of the
moon. Just copy the link and paste it to a search bar . https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4768
• Image courtesy of NASA: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4768