--- description: The moon might have had an atmosphere around three to four billion years ago caused by ancient volcanos spewing gases on its surface title: NASA: The Moon Once Had an Atmosphere That Faded Away image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt570cf9fc5442a8ae/6988e1184ee2629eab30f528/gettyimages-484391054.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Space](/tag/space/) ## Space Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # NASA: The Moon Once Had an Atmosphere That Faded Away by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 9, 2017 4:10 PM CUT  Night time photograph of a waxing gibbous Moon, taken on November 14, 2013. Night time photograph of a waxing gibbous Moon, taken on November 14, 2013.Chris Rutter—Digital Camera Magazine/Getty Images by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 9, 2017 4:10 PM CUT The [moon](http://time.com/4960547/russia-roscosmos-nasa-moon-space-station/ "undefined") likely had an ancient, temporary atmosphere — similar to the pocket of gases that surround Earth — around 3 to 4 billion years ago, [according to a new study](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X17304971?via%3Dihub "undefined"). Scientists at [NASA](http://www.thedrive.com/tech/14865/nasa-fires-rocket-high-above-u-s-east-coast-to-test-supersonic-parachute-for-mars "undefined")‘s Marshall Space Flight Center and the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) in Houston found that the atmosphere was caused by ancient volcanos spewing gases into the lunar sky faster than they could escape to space. The atmosphere, which was about 2% the density of Earth’s but twice that of Mars, lasted for around 70 million years before sputtering away into space. “This work dramatically changes our view of the Moon from an airless rocky body to one that used to be surrounded by an atmosphere more prevalent than that surrounding Mars today,” study author David Kring from LPI told [Phys.org](https://phys.org/news/2017-10-nasa-moon-atmosphere.html "undefined"). The research was based on prior studies of samples carried back during Apollo missions. The study found that the moon’s magmas “carried gas components, such as carbon monoxide, the ingredients for water, sulfur, and other volatile species,” the scientists [wrote in a statement](https://www.lpi.usra.edu/features/100517/moon-atmosphere/ "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4974580/nasa-moon-had-atmosphere-volcanoes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4974580/nasa-moon-had-atmosphere-volcanoes/"},"headline":"NASA: The Moon Once Had an Atmosphere That Faded Away","datePublished":"2017-10-09T16:10:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:47:08.537Z","description":"NASA believes it lasted for around 70 million years","url":"https://time.com/4974580/nasa-moon-had-atmosphere-volcanoes/","keywords":["Space","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt570cf9fc5442a8ae/6988e1184ee2629eab30f528/gettyimages-484391054.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt570cf9fc5442a8ae/6988e1184ee2629eab30f528/gettyimages-484391054.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Night time photograph of a waxing gibbous Moon, taken on November 14, 2013.","caption":"Night time photograph of a waxing gibbous Moon, taken on November 14, 2013.","creditText":"Chris Rutter—Digital Camera Magazine/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4974580/nasa-moon-had-atmosphere-volcanoes/","name":"NASA: The Moon Once Had an Atmosphere That Faded Away"}}]}] ```