Apr 11, 2025
Drier Lunar Far Side Offers Insight on Moon's Evolution
The latest discovery from rock samples returned by China's Chang'e-6 lunar mission reveals that the moon's mantle contains less water on the far side compared to the near side, suggesting that the "hidden hemisphere," which always faces away from Earth, tends to be much drier. Published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, a new study by Chinese scientists found that the water content in each gram of the thick rocky layer beneath the moon's far side surface is less than 2 micrograms, the lowest record ever reported.