By 
July 11th, 2025
Chang’e-6 scooping operation on Moon’s far side.
Image credit: CNSA/CLEP
China’s pioneering robotic lunar sampling mission — Chang’e-6 – is shedding light on the evolution of Moon’s far side.
Last year, the Chang’e-6 lunar lander system collected 1,935.3 grams of lunar far-side samples and rocketed them back to Earth.
These samples were collected from the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin, the largest, deepest, and oldest basin on the Moon.
The specimens under intensive study are helping to clarify the compositional differences between the near and far sides of the Moon.
China’s Chang’e-6 lander/ascender in far side sampling scenery.
Image credit: CNSA/CLEP
Large basalt sample
Chinese researchers are reporting that a large basalt sample collected during the Chang’e-6 lunar mission is around 2.5 centimeters in size and weighs around 10 grams.
“It’s extremely rare to find rock fragments larger than one centimeter. The majority of the rock debris we collected is mostly around 0.1 centimeters,” said Zhou Qin, an associate research fellow at the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Zhou Qin, an associate research fellow at the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
“It’s basalt. The dark regions visible on the lunar surface are comprised of this type of rock,” Zhou told China Central Television (CCTV).
“For smaller rock debris, due to the limitations of its size or weight, the scientific analyses we can conduct are relatively limited. Therefore, for the larger one, we can conduct more scientific analyses,” Zhou said.
Thin sections
Given that large sample, a small portion of it is used to make thin sections to observe its petrographic features and determine its mineral composition.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
“Additionally, we can take a bit more of the sample to conduct some high-precision quantitative work, including its elemental chemical composition and isotopic composition,” said Zhou. “All these can be done simultaneously, which is equivalent to viewing and interpreting the same sample from different dimensions. However, for the smaller sample particles, we cannot interpret the matter from multiple dimensions at the same time.”
Lunar researchers have obtained ancient magnetic field information from the far side of the Moon, revealing a possible rebound in the Moon’s magnetic field intensity around 2.8 billion years ago.
“This discovery indicates the presence of fluctuations in the driven power of the lunar dynamo,” CCTV notes.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Water content
“Scientists have found that the water content in the lunar far-side mantle is significantly lower than that of the near side, indicating a significant difference in water distribution between the two hemispheres.
The researchers have also found that the mantle source of basalt from the SPA basin is extremely depleted in incompatible elements, underscoring the profound influence of large impacts on the evolution of the Moon’s deep interior.
Four studies by the research teams from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, the National Astronomical Observatories, both under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Nanjing University, and other institutions were published in the latest issue of Nature.
The CAS held a press conference on Wednesday of this week to introduce these research findings.
Go to Nature, Volume 643 Issue 8071, 10 July 2025, at:
https://www.nature.com/nature/volumes/643/issues/8071
Also, go to this informative CCTV video at:
Posted in Space News
