Analysis of the first lunar soil samples from the far side of the Moon revealed volcanic eruptions were taking place there 2.8 billion years ago — more recently than initially believed.
Xinhua / Alamy Stock PhotoResearchers collecting the lunar soil samples recovered by the Chang’e 6 probe in June 2024.
There are many things still unknown about the so-called “dark side” of the Moon. The near side, which faces the Earth, has been extensively studied, and researchers have long known that it once saw volcanic activity.
On the other hand, the Moon’s far side remains largely unexplored. However, two studies that were just published in the journals Nature and Science are now shedding some light on the Moon’s mysteries. Researchers recently analyzed the very first rock and soil samples from the far side of the Moon and found evidence of volcanic eruptions billions of years ago.
Samples From The ‘Dark Side’ Of The Moon Reveal Ancient Volcanic Activity
CNSA via NASAThe Chang’e 6 probe on the lunar surface.
Samples of rocks and soil were retrieved from the far side of the Moon by China’s Chang’e 6 lunar lander, the first probe to touch down in the area, back in early June. Chang’e 6 used a robotic arm to grab just over four pounds of lunar material from the South Pole-Aitken basin — the Moon’s largest impact crater — over the course of its two-day mission.
With the material in hand, Chang’e 6 departed from the lunar surface and made its way back to Earth, touching down in Mongolia in late June. Overall, the mission took a total of 53 days from the spacecraft’s initial launch on Earth to its safe return.
What followed was a detailed analysis of the samples led by experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who promised to share scientific data and access to the samples with the international community.
Xinhua / Alamy Stock PhotoThe Chang’e 6 lunar probe recovered 4.2 pounds of material, comprising around 108 samples.
The experts used radioisotope dating to determine the age of the volcanic basalt Chang’e 6 recovered, which revealed that a “surprisingly young” eruption occurred roughly 2.83 billion years ago on the far side of the Moon. Notably, no similar evidence has been found on the near side of the Moon.
“The relatively young age of the basalts (retrieved by Chang’e 6) is surprising along with the composition being practically devoid of radioactive elements,” University of Notre Dame professor and co-author of the Science paper Clive Neal told CNN. Neal added that this “prompts the question ‘how and why were these magmas generated.'”
Of the 180 basalt fragments analyzed, most formed around 2.8 billion years ago, though one was formed 4.2 billion years ago. These findings were consistent between the Nature and Science studies, suggesting that the Moon was actually molten for far longer than initially thought.
Given how much of our scientific understanding was effectively rewritten when scientists recovered the first lunar samples in the 1960s and ’70s — effectively revealing the history of how the Moon formed — some experts have raised questions as to whether this new data could rewrite that history once more.
How New Information About The Far Side Of The Moon Could Rewrite Lunar History
Public DomainThe first image taken of the far side of the Moon.
“One of the concerns, you know, we developed this detailed story from all the Apollo results,” said Richard W. Carlson, a scientist from the Carnegie Institution for Science’s Earth & Planets Laboratory who was not involved in the research. “And one thing that has always kind of lingered in the back of my mind is whether that only applies to the Apollo area of the Moon.”
The first image of the far side of the Moon was captured in 1959 by the Soviet Luna 3 spacecraft, and though the photo quality was lackluster, it offered a unique glimpse at a side of the Moon never seen by those of us on Earth.
Public DomainA clearer, more recent photo of the far side of the Moon.
Since the Moon is tidally locked to Earth and takes the same amount of time to orbit the planet as it does to complete a single rotation on its axis, the same side is always facing us. While this “dark side” actually receives plenty of light, it’s never seen from Earth.
The hope with this new research is to gain a better understanding of the far side of the Moon and possibly answer some longstanding questions about the Moon’s history.
After learning about this new research into the far side of the Moon, learn more about the Moon’s unseen half. Or, dive into the conspiracy theory that the Moon landing was faked.
