For the first time in history, Chinese scientists have revealed what kind of material lies on the far side of the moon – a mixture of basalts and foreign ejecta largely different from the previous Chinese-collected near side samples of mostly basaltic volcanic rocks.
In China’s first analysis of far side lunar samples – published less than three months after the mission brought the material to Earth – the authors said the material showed “distinct characteristics compared to previous lunar samples”, all of which have been collected from the near side of the moon since 1969.
For example, the far side samples contain significantly more light-coloured particles such as glass and feldspar compared to the Chang’e-5 samples from the moon’s near side. The researchers said the material likely originated from ejections or impacts.
The new samples also have a lower density, meaning it “is more loose and porous than previous lunar soils”.
