Multispectral images obtained from these missions showed that this basin contains more FeO and TiO2 than typical lunar highlands,[12] and hence has a darker appearance.

The topography of the basin was mapped in its entirety for the first time using altimeter data and the analysis of stereo image pairs taken during the Clementine mission.

Most recently, the composition of this basin has been further constrained by the analysis of data obtained from a gamma-ray spectrometer that was on board the Lunar Prospector mission.

Most importantly, none of the samples obtained from the American Apollo and Russian Luna missions, nor the handful of identified lunar meteorites, have comparable compositions.

[15] Several possibilities exist for this distinctive chemical signature: one is that it might simply represent lower crustal materials that are somewhat richer in iron, titanium and thorium than the upper crust; another is that the composition reflects the widespread distribution of ponds of iron-rich basalts, similar to those that make up the lunar maria; alternatively, the rocks in the basin could contain a component from the lunar mantle if the basin excavated all the way through the crust; and, finally, it is possible that a large portion of the lunar surface surrounding the basin was melted during the impact event, and differentiation of this impact melt sheet could have given rise to additional geochemical anomalies.

[citation needed] China sent Chang'e 6 on 3 May 2024, which conducted the first lunar sample return from Apollo Basin on the far side of the Moon.

Simulations of near vertical impacts show that the bolide ought to have excavated vast amounts of mantle materials from depths as great as 200 km below the surface.

Putative evidence for this comes from the high elevations north-east of the rim of the South Pole–Aitken basin that might represent ejecta from such an oblique impact.