The Moon has a long, chaotic geological history almost as old as Earth itself. Every crater, rock and speck of dust on the Moon tells a story, but because it's not exactly close to our planet, this history is a little harder to study than say, the Grand Canyon.
Astronomers theorize that Moon craters were formed from celestial objects like asteroids and comets crashing into its surface. While this process also formed some of the rocks and dust — known as regolith — astronomers also know that the Moon was covered in this stuff before any impact events occurred. As such, astronomers and geologists have long dreamed of the day when they could analyze the regolith in great detail.
