China's Chang'e 6 mission marked a milestone in lunar exploration by bringing back the first-ever samples from the far side of the Moon. Launched in early May 2024, the mission successfully landed in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, one of the largest impact structures in our solar system. At the end of June 2024, the Chang'e 6 probe returned to Earth with approximately 1,935.3 grams of lunar samples.
Preliminary analyses revealed distinct differences in density, structure, and chemical composition between the Chang'e 6 samples and those collected during the Apollo missions and China's previous Chang'e 5 mission. These differences are likely caused by the colossal impact that formed the South Pole-Aitken Basin around 4.2 billion years ago, which altered the chemical and physical properties of the Moon's mantle and may explain the unique characteristics of the material collected by Chang'e 6.
One of the most striking findings is that the ratio of certain uranium and lead isotopes in the Chang'e 6 samples differs from those of the Apollo missions. "We discovered that there was a rebound around 2.8 billion years ago, indicating that after the decline, there were fluctuations and recoveries," said Cai Shuhui, a scientist involved in the research.
By analyzing basalt fragments retrieved by the Chang'e 6 mission, scientists found that these rocks share similarities with low-titanium basalts previously collected by NASA's Apollo missions to the Moon's near side. This enhances the understanding of the Moon's volcanic processes and supports the idea that these processes were widespread across the Moon's surface. The findings confirm the established model that the Moon was covered by a global ocean of liquid magma during its early formation phase.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.