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China’s Chang’e-6 samples reveal the moon’s ‘two-faced’ temperatures

First rocks gathered from the moon’s far side by Chinese mission show Earth’s natural satellite has a colder side

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According to one of the researchers, “a dramatic difference in temperature between the near and far side of the mantle has long been hypothesised, but our study provides the first evidence using real samples”. Photo: May Tse
Victoria Bela
Scientists in China and Britain have found that the far side of the moon is not only visually different from the near side, but it may also be colder.
The team made the discovery after analysing the first-ever rock samples returned to Earth from the moon’s far side, retrieved during China’s Chang’e-6 mission last year.

By comparing the samples with those taken from the near side, they revealed a thermal asymmetry between the two sides of the moon, with the minerals from the far side appearing to have formed in interior lava temperatures of about 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit) lower than that of the near side.

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“The stark contrast between the moon’s near side and far side in topography, volcanic activity and crustal structure provides critical insights into lunar formation and evolution,” the team said in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Geoscience on September 30.
The returner of the Chang’e-6 lunar probe is opened during a ceremony at the China Academy of Space Technology in Beijing on June 26, 2024. Photo: Xinhua
The returner of the Chang’e-6 lunar probe is opened during a ceremony at the China Academy of Space Technology in Beijing on June 26, 2024. Photo: Xinhua

“However, the absence of far side samples has long limited the investigations into the mechanisms driving this hemispherical asymmetry,” said the team led by researchers from University College London (UCL), Peking University and China National Nuclear Corporation.

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