Asteroid impacts MOVED the moon's north and south pole about 186 miles over 4.25 billion years - Daily Mail

A team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland used computer simulations to 'erase' thousands of craters from the lunar surface - as if they were going back in time to 4.25 billion years ago when the craters didn't exist.

A team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland used computer simulations to 'erase' thousands of craters from the lunar surface2

GRAIL gravity model GRGM1200B (left), and GRGM1200B with 5197 crater gravity anomalies removed (right).

'If you look at the Moon with all these craters on it, you can see those in the gravity field data,' said David Smith, principal investigator for the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter.

Artemis 3 and China's Chang’e-7 both identify sites near Shackleton, Haworth and Nobile craters as potential landing zones (areas circled in red, above).

These areas of overlap are home to shadowed craters that can trap water-ice

In addition, the space agency recently called on China to be 'open and transparent' with its lunar missions following a revelation of overlap between the two countries in potential landing sites near the lunar surface's south pole region. 

Artemis 3 and China's Chang’e-7 both identify sites near Shackleton, Haworth and Nobile craters as potential landing zones

These areas of overlap are home to shadowed craters that can trap water-ice. 

Although researchers studying polar wander have removed craters from the record, they’ve removed only a couple dozen of the biggest impacts