NASA video shows 5 billion years of moon history in three minutes

Right back at the moon's beginning scientists believe the moon was first formed as the remnants of a planet the size of Mars which collided with Earth like a gigantic game of space snooker.

Around 4 billion years ago (give or take a few million) the moon was battered by a storm of huge meteors during the 'basin formation/heavy bombardment' phase.

More craters were formed by smaller meteors around 1 billion years ago, giving a once fresh-faced moon a lot of heavy acne scarring - this is when the moon starts to look a lot like the way we see it today.

"From year to year, the moon never seems to change. Craters and other formations appear to be permanent now, but the moon didn't always look like this. Thanks to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, we now have a better look at some of the moon's history." said NASA.

The video comes courtesy of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre, which was the first NASA centre founded way back in 1959 and situated near Washington DC in the state of Maryland.