Like Earth, the Moon has evolved over time, but unlike our planet, where erosion, tectonics and volcanism hide the scars of the past, much of the Moon’s history is preserved on its surface, making it an illuminating window into the deep past. This brief visual history of the Moon from the NASA Goddard shows how the Earth’s closest cosmic companion came to be the pockmarked, familiar face we now see in our night sky. On Aeon Video: https://aeon.co/videos/it-might-be-our-placid-nocturnal-companion