Scientists on Brink of Solving Mystery of Moon's Origins

Scientists have their fingers firmly crossed that they may shortly solve the debate over whether the Moon was created by the planet Mercury crashing into Earth.

Was it Mercury that crashed into Earth?

Something, billions of years ago, smashed into Earth and the debris that shot out into space eventually coalesced to create our Moon, which now sits in the sky about 384,400 km (238,855 miles) away from us. Planet Mercury is a strong contender. So, in 2018, the BepiColombo spacecraft was launched on a mission to Mercury and this week begins its arrival phase at the planet. It is expected to enter orbit in November. Once there, it should be able to test the hypothesis that the planet struck Earth 4.5 billion years ago, creating enough debris to form the Moon.

BepiColombo is carrying two probes and is packed with scientific instruments to assess the mineralogical and elemental composition of Mercury’s surface. This could finally answer the question about where, and how, it formed, reports The Telegraph.

Today, Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, but scientists believe it formed further out in the solar system, perhaps nearer to Mars. It has a dense core and a thin crust, leading some experts to believe it hit another planet billions of years ago, stripping away most of its lighter surface material, and knocking it into its current spot in the solar system.

Mercury’s iron core makes up about 65 percent of its total mass, whilst Earth’s core makes up 32 percent of its mass. This implies that Mercury, which is not much larger than the Moon, lost a large quantity of material that formed its outer layers. Prof Dirk Schulze-Makuch, of the Technical University of Berlin, has suggested that the Moon may be made up of the missing material.

We should know soon. OGN will keep you posted.