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Space
Space
Science
Keith Cooper

What caused the only known lunar landslide? Newly opened Apollo 17 moon samples may hold the answer

A gray rock sits on a gray surface.

A mysterious lunar landslide might be the product of large chunks of debris from the impact that formed the crater Tycho slamming into the side of a moon mountain.

The Light Mantle, which is a bright 5-kilometer-long (3.1 miles) streak emanating from the base of a 2-km-tall (1.2 miles) mountain called South Massif, was a key target for NASA's Apollo 17 mission in 1972. With geologist Harrison Schmitt as a member of the crew, Apollo 17 returned from the moon with 243.6 pounds (110.5 kilograms) of rock samples, including two core samples from the Light Mantle.

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