भूवैज्ञानिकांना अपेक्षा आहे की चांग’ई-६ चे चंद्र पृष्ठभागाचे नमुने ज्वालामुखी खडक आणि प्रभावी इजेक्टा (उत्सर्जित पदार्थ) यांचा समावेश करतील.
On June 25, China’s Chang’e-6 (CE-6) lunar probe is scheduled to return to Earth, bringing back the first surface samples collected from the far side of the moon. In anticipation of this historic event, scientists from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences are publishing their predictions about the unique materials that may be found in the CE-6 samples in the journal The Innovation.
This graphical abstract depicts the landing site of lunar probe Chang’e-6. Credit: Yue et al./The Innovation
Based on the geological characteristics of the probe’s landing site, researchers predict that the returned surface samples will consist of 2.5-million-year-old volcanic rock combined with small amounts of material generated by nearby meteorite impacts. There is also a possibility that evidence of the distant effects will be found in the samples.
“There are significant differences between the far side and the nearside of the moon in terms of lunar crustal thickness, volcanic activity, composition, etc., especially considering that CE-6 landed on the South Polar-Aitken (SPA) basin, a special terrain of the moon,” says first author Zongyu Yue, a geologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
“The CE-6 samples, being the first obtained from the far side of the moon, are expected to answer one of the most fundamental scientific questions in lunar science research: what geologic activity is responsible for the differences between the two sides?”
On June 2, 2024, CE-6 landed in the Apollo Crater, located at the edge of the largest depression on the moon, known as the SPA basin. The probe used core drilling and surface scooping to collect rocks and minerals likely to contain traces of early meteorite impacts. The data will reveal how far ejecta from early collisions spread across the moon and whether there are any differences from what’s been recorded on the asymmetrical nearside.
“My greatest hope is that the CE-6 samples contain some impact melts (fragments generated when smaller bodies crash into the moon) from the Apollo Crater and the SPA basin, which can provide crucial constraints on the early impact flux of the moon,” says Yue. “Once this information is obtained, it will not only help clarify the role of early lunar meteorite impacts on the moon’s evolution but also be of great significance in analyzing the early impact history of the inner solar system.”
With ten successful lunar sample return missions conducted on the moon’s nearside, the CE-6 lunar probe samples represent the first collected from the far side. Researchers expect their analysis in the coming months and years to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of lunar evolution.