Dark Side of the Moon Pack. Scientists are rubbing their hands
The capsule of the Chinese Chang’e 6 probe returned to Earth. She brought rock samples from the dark side of the Moon.
The capsule with rocks landed on the Mongolian steppe on Thursday. This is an epochal event in the history of research on Earth’s only natural satellite. For the first time, scientists have the opportunity to examine samples from the side of the Moon we cannot see. Thanks to them, it may be possible to solve the mystery of the origin of the Moon. Is this really a fragment of another planet that the young Earth collided with?
We will finally learn the history of the Moon
Scientists currently speculate that the samples brought back by the Chinese probe are as old as those obtained by the Apollo mission last century. If this is not the case, the Moon’s history may be more complicated than we currently think. There is a good chance of this, because the two sides of the Moon are very different.
The Chang’e 6 probe landed on the far side of the Moon in early June 2024. This was a huge challenge because the Moon always faces the same side towards us, so there is no direct line of communication with the studied areas. The Chang’e 6 mission therefore relied on satellite relays.
China wants to cooperate with the US on research. The local space agency offered to share samples with NASA.
