Results of the new studies show how pieces of the moon's mantle — meaning the layer of the interior just below the visible crust — got blasted to the surface as asteroids and comets pummeled the moon's surface over the eons. While the moon itself is not habitable, it does have a mantle just like Earth.

What is a mantle on the Moon?

Analyses of these basalts indicate that the mantle is composed predominantly of the minerals olivine, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene, and that the lunar mantle is more iron-rich than that of the Earth. ... Moonquakes have been found to occur deep within the mantle of the Moon about 1,000 km below the surface.

Does the Moon have a core and mantle?

At the center is the Moon's dense, metallic core. The core is largely composed of iron and some nickel. ... Above the core are the mantle and crust. Differences in compositions between these layers tell a story of the Moon being largely, or even completely, composed of a great ocean of magma in its very early history.