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Current lunar origin scenarios suggest that Earth's Moon may have resulted from the merger of two (or more) smaller moonlets. Dynamical studies of multiple moons find that these satellite systems are not stable, resulting in moonlet collision or loss of one or more of the moonlets. We perform Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamic (SPH) impact simulations of two orbiting moonlets inside the planetary gravitational potential and find that the classical outcome of two bodies impacting in free space is altered as erosive mass loss is more significant with decreasing distance to the planet. Depending on the conditions of accretion, each moonlet could have a distinct isotopic signature, therefore, we assess the initial mixing during their merger, in order to estimate whether future measurements of surface variations could distinguish between lunar origin scenarios (single vs. multiple moonlets). We find that for comparable-size impacting bodies in the accretionary regime, surface mixing is efficient, but in the hit-and-run regime, only a small amount of material is transferred between the bodies. However, sequences of hit-and-run impacts are expected, which will enhance the surface mixing. Overall, our results show that large scale heterogeneities can arise only from the merger of drastically different component masses. Surfaces of moons resulting from the merger of comparable-sized components have little material heterogeneities, and such impacts are preferred, as the relatively massive impactor generates more melt, extending the lunar magma ocean phase., accepted for publication. 17 pages, 9 Figures

Forming the Moon by a high-angular momentum impact may explain the Earth-Moon isotopic similarities, however, the post-impact angular momentum needs to be reduced by a factor of 2 or more to the current value (1 L_EM) after the Moon forms. Capture into the evection resonance, occurring when the lunar perigee precession period equals one year, could remove the angular momentum excess. However the appropriate angular momentum removal appears sensitive to the tidal model and chosen tidal parameters. In this work, we use a constant-time delay tidal model to explore the Moon's orbital evolution through evection. We find that exit from formal evection occurs early and that subsequently, the Moon enters a quasi-resonance regime, in which evection still regulates the lunar eccentricity even though the resonance angle is no longer librating. Although not in resonance proper, during quasi-resonance angular momentum is continuously removed from the Earth-Moon system and transferred to Earth's heliocentric orbit. The final angular momentum, set by the timing of quasi-resonance escape, is a function of the ratio of tidal strength in the Moon and Earth and the absolute rate of tidal dissipation in the Earth. We consider a physically-motivated model for tidal dissipation in the Earth as the mantle cools from a molten to a partially molten state. We find that as the mantle solidifies, increased terrestrial dissipation drives the Moon out of quasi-resonance. For post-impact systems that contain >2 L_EM, final angular momentum values after quasi-resonance escape remain significantly higher than the current Earth-Moon value., accepted to JGR-Planets