5 Mysteries That the Artemis Missions to the Moon Could Finally Solve

Jorge Garay Science Apr 6, 2026 5:30 AM 5 Moon Mysteries That the Artemis Missions Could Finally Solve The moon is not just a barren rock orbiting Earth. The Artemis missions could answer the great unknowns that the satellite holds. Photograph: Bettmann/Getty Images Save this story Save this story For half a century humans thought they understood the moon : a static, airless, waterless landscape without many mysteries to solve. But orbiting instruments and robotic missions have proven otherwise. The most studied satellite in the solar system is more complex than it seems, and many fundamental questions remain open. NASA is about to return to the moon with the Artemis program. While Artemis II and III will be missions to orbit the satellite, Artemis IV will put astronauts on the surface for the first time since the Apollo era. The ambitious plan is to lay the groundwork for a sustained presence that will generate a steady stream of data and samples. Some lunar mysteries will be solved because of the abundant samples and the technology being delivered. Not all the answers will come at once, and the results will probably be slow in coming, but they've never been closer to being solved. Here is a list of enigmas that could be clarified, with realistic scenarios, in the next 10 to 20 years. What Is the Origin of the Moon? The dominant theory of the moon's origin proposes that it arose after the collision of a Mars-sized planet with a proto-Earth some 4.5 billion years ago. Some of the material ejected by that impact clumped together and solidified to form the satellite that orbits Earth today. However, this hypothesis depends on complex simulations and a limited set of samples brought back by Apollo 50 years ago. Direct access to new, unaltered rocks, combined with modern analysis techniques, could provide much stronger evidence. Of course, it will be necessary to access deep materials, such as mantle fragments exposed in craters or impact zones, and to reconstruct the c...