China televises the distant lunar surface, presumably for public view.
Rewritten Article:
China proved its space prowess by showcasing lunar soil samples originating from the hidden side of the Moon on Cosmonautics Day. Last year, these samples made their way back to Earth, making China the pioneering nation to pull off a successful landing, soil collection, and return from the moon's enigmatic far side.
As per RIA Novosti reports, the lunar soil was hoovered up in the South Pole-Aitken basin by the "Chang'e-6" spacecraft.
This cosmic loot is now on display at the Shanghai World Expo Center, accompanied by those retrieved by "Chang'e-5" in December 2020.
In the heyday of 2019, China announced its mission to carry out the world's first lunar landing on the far side. The Chinese spacecraft snagged two distinct forms of lunar mantle samples from the mysterious dark side of the Moon.
Moscow, Elena Vasilyeva reporting for RIA "Novy Day"© 2025
The lunar soil samples gathered by China's missions, notably Chang'e 5 and Chang'e 6, have been a treasure trove of insights regarding the Moon's composition and past. While the Chang'e-6 mission indeed collected samples from the far side, it didn't explicitly specify the South Pole-Aitken basin as the site of collection. Here are some intriguing facts we've gleaned from the Chang'e-6 samples concerning the moon's far side:
Moon Magic:
- Watery Possibilities:
- Far Side's Hidden Hydration: The water content on the far side, as found in the Chang'e-6 samples, is remarkably sparse compared to the near side. Measurements revealed just 1 to 1.5 micrograms of water per gram of rock in these samples, a stark contrast to the near side's water content[3][4].
- Giant Impact Theory:
- The Chang'e-6 samples uphold the belief that the Moon was forged from the remnants of an earthshaking collision between Earth and a Mars-sized protoplanet. The discrepancy in water content between the near and far sides lends credence to simulations of this impact event[4].
- Future Voyages of Discovery:
- Scientists are eager to comb through the Chinese lunar samples further and collaborate with their international counterparts to unearth more about the Moon's past and composition. Plans include investigating the isotopic signatures of lunar samples to get a clearer picture of the Moon's origins and the giant impact theory[1][2].
Unfortunately, specific findings particular to the South Pole-Aitken basin are not extensively detailed in the given study findings related to the Chang'e missions. The South Pole-Aitken basin, a significant impact crater, doesn't have the spotlight when it comes to scientific analyses that are explicitly mentioned in the current Chang'e literature.
- The Chang'e-6 mission, part of China's space exploration program, collected lunar soil samples from the far side of the Moon, specifically from the South Pole-Aitken basin, as reported by RIA Novosti.
- Analysis of these samples has yielded insights about the Moon's composition and past, such as the discovery of remarkably sparse water content compared to the near side.
- Despite the scarcity of water on the far side, the findings from the Chang'e-6 mission support the theory that the Moon was formed from the remnants of a giant impact event.
- Future collaborations among scientists aim to delve deeper into the isotopic signatures of the Chang'e samples, particularly those from the South Pole-Aitken basin, to better understand the Moon's origins and validate the giant impact theory.
