Photo by Nicolas Thomas on Unsplash (illustrative)
In July 2025, the Chinese Academy of Sciences reported results from four papers in the journal Nature based on rock and soil brought back by China's Chang'e-6 mission. The probe returned to Earth on 25 June 2024 with the first samples ever collected from the far side of the Moon, taken from the giant South Pole-Aitken basin.
Key facts
Chang'e-6 delivered 1,935.3 grams of material, the first far-side samples in history.
The rocks record two phases of volcanism, about 4.2 billion and 2.8 billion years ago, so eruptions continued on the far side for at least 1.4 billion years.
The samples show the Moon's magnetic field strengthened again around 2.8 billion years ago instead of fading steadily.
The far-side mantle holds much less water than the near side, and the South Pole-Aitken basin formed about 4.25 billion years ago.
Why it matters
Every Moon sample studied before came from the near side, so scientists could only guess why the two halves of the Moon look so different. These first far-side rocks give direct evidence about how the Moon, and by extension rocky planets like Earth, formed and cooled.
Worth noting
All results come from one landing site, so they may not represent the whole far side. Under China's rules, international researchers could apply to study the samples directly from about two years after their return, and can already join Chinese-led teams.