The far side of the Moon has always felt a little untouchable. We never see it, barely understand it, and now scientists think it’s hiding something big. Deep within its largest crater, they’ve found new clues about how the Moon formed—and NASA’s next astronauts are heading straight for it.

The crater is called the South Pole-Aitken basin. It spans about 1,600 kilometers and was carved 4.3 billion years ago when a massive asteroid struck the young Moon. For years, scientists believed the object was hit from the south. Research from the University of Arizona, published in Nature, shows the impact came from the north instead. It’s a small detail that completely changes how scientists read the landscape.

“When a body hits at an angle, it doesn’t distribute material evenly,” said planetary g

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