China's Chang'e-6 Mission Unveils Geological Secrets of Moon's Far Side

BEIJING, July 9, 2025 — The Chang'e-6 lunar mission has provided groundbreaking insights into the geological evolution of the moon's far side, a region historically shrouded in mystery. At a press conference held by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Beijing, researchers unveiled a series of significant findings derived from the samples collected during this mission, which returned to Earth in 2024. The results, published in the latest issue of the journal Nature, reveal crucial information about the moon's volcanic activity, ancient magnetic field, and geochemical characteristics of its mantle, marking a pivotal moment in lunar science.

The Chang'e-6 mission, part of China’s ambitious lunar exploration program, successfully retrieved 1,935.3 grams of lunar material from the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin, the largest and oldest impact basin on the moon. This area is estimated to have formed approximately 4.25 billion years ago, and the findings from the samples collected challenge many long-held hypotheses regarding the moon's geological history.

"The SPA Basin measures around 2,500 kilometers in diameter, and the energy from the impact that formed this crater was one trillion times more powerful than an atomic bomb explosion," stated Wu Fuyuan, an academician at CAS and a leading researcher with the Institute of Geology and Geophysics (IGG). He emphasized the transformative power of this colossal impact on the moon's evolution.

The research indicates that volcanic activity on the moon's far side persisted for at least 1.4 billion years, with evidence of such activity occurring around 4.2 billion and 2.8 billion years ago. This discovery is pivotal as it demonstrates that geological processes may have been active on the moon much longer than previously believed. Yang Wei, a researcher at IGG, noted, "The mantle source of basalt from the SPA basin is extremely depleted in incompatible elements, a finding that could indicate either a primordial lack of these elements in the lunar mantle or their removal due to the immense impact event."

Moreover, for the first time, researchers have gathered ancient magnetic field data from the moon's far side, hinting at fluctuations in the moon's magnetic field intensity approximately 2.8 billion years ago. According to Li Chunlai, a researcher at the National Astronomical Observatories of CAS and the deputy chief designer of the Chang'e-6 mission, these findings provide unprecedented insight into the early development of the moon's interior structure.

The studies reveal that the water content in the lunar far-side mantle is significantly lower than that of the near side, suggesting a stark difference in water distribution across the moon's hemispheres. This discovery could have implications for future lunar exploration and resource utilization efforts.

Mahesh Anand, a professor at the Open University in the UK, remarked on the significance of the Chang'e-6 findings, stating, "The new data challenge many established theories in lunar science, necessitating a reexamination of our understanding of the moon's evolution."

The achievements of the Chang'e-6 mission are part of China's broader efforts in space exploration, which have gained international recognition for their scientific contributions. He Hongping, vice president of CAS, highlighted the importance of utilizing extraterrestrial samples for advancing lunar research, while Guan Feng, director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center, expressed ambitions for further scientific endeavors in space.

The findings from the Chang'e-6 mission not only deepen our understanding of the moon's geological history but also pave the way for future lunar missions, including the anticipated Chang'e-8 mission, which aims to further explore the moon in collaboration with international partners. As the scientific community continues to analyze these groundbreaking samples, the implications for lunar science and exploration remain profound, fostering a new era of discovery about our celestial neighbor.