Recently, scientists made a groundbreaking discovery, unveiling a trove of mysteries hidden beneath the enigmatic far side of the moon, shrouded in darkness for eons.
Throughout human history, the moon has captivated our imaginations, but now, thanks to China’s space program, we are finally unraveling its long-veiled history.
In 2018, the Chang’e-4 lander, a mission by the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA), achieved a historic milestone by successfully landing on the moon’s far side, often referred to as the dark side. Since then, it has been diligently capturing astonishing images of lunar impact craters and extracting mineral samples, providing a much-needed glimpse into the hidden structures beneath the moon’s uppermost 1,000 feet.
Recently, the findings from the Chang’e-4 mission were unveiled, inviting the world to delve into the moon’s rich history. These results, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, disclose that the top 130 feet (40 meters) of the lunar surface consist of multiple layers of dust, soil, and fractured rocks.
Within these layers lies an ancient crater, a testament to a colossal celestial collision that occurred on the moon’s surface, as explained by Jianqing Feng, an astrogeological researcher at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, who co-led this groundbreaking analysis.
Beneath the crater, Feng and his team made an astonishing discovery—five distinct layers of lunar lava that once flowed across the lunar landscape billions of years ago. Scientists speculate that the moon came into existence approximately 4.51 billion years ago when a Mars-sized object collided with Earth, cleaving a fragment that became our moon, a theory supported by Live Science.
In the ensuing 200 million years, the moon endured relentless bombardment from space debris, leaving scars and fissures on its surface. Similar to Earth, the moon’s mantle held pockets of molten magma, which, during a series of volcanic eruptions, seeped into the emerging fissures.
However, Chang’e-4’s newfound data revealed a compelling detail: the closer the volcanic rock was to the moon’s surface, the thinner it became. Feng explained that the moon gradually cooled down and lost its volcanic vigor over time. This discovery suggests that lunar volcanic activity ceased somewhere between one billion and 100 million years ago, rendering the moon largely “geologically dead.”
Nevertheless, Feng and his fellow researchers propose the intriguing possibility of concealed magma lurking deep beneath the lunar surface, a tantalizing mystery yet to be fully explored.
The Chang’e-4 mission is far from finished, and Feng’s team anticipates that this revelation is only the initial chapter in their groundbreaking lunar exploration.
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