On a day the four crew of Artemis II broke a record set by Apollo 13 for farthest distance from Earth ever flown by humans, they made a request that two new craters be named: one to honor their Orion

This week, we got a different moon—the Artemis moon. The moon captured by America’s first mission there in generations is not the moon I look for every time I step outside. It is not the moon I grew up with or the one my parents learned about during the Apollo missions.

The astronauts were able to catch a full view of the Mare Orientale, a dark, ringed 600-mile wide crater that straddles the near and the far sides of the moon. Human eyes had never seen the whole basin before. (The Apollo missions were timed so that the landings occurred as the crater was hidden in darkness.)

For all its ancient, familiar features, the Moon is still changing—and sometimes in dramatic ways. Scientists recently identified a fresh 22-meter-wide crater by comparing orbital images taken years apart,

We've now more than a decade of continuous research out here with NASA to be able to use Craters of the Moon as a test bed for the moon, Mars and beyond,” said Dr. Shannon Kobs Nawotniak, Idaho State University Geosciences Department Chair.

The astronauts on Artemis II observed parts of the moon humans had never seen before. Their findings provide a scientific baseline — and sense of wonder — for future missions.

Scientists find that water on the moon likely built up gradually over billions of years, collecting as ice in permanently shadowed craters.

Scientists have discovered that the moon’s oldest and darkest craters have the highest signs of containing ice, which likely accumulated on the moon slowly over billions of years, according to a research study published on Tuesday.