It might seem like the focus of space agencies around the globe is on Mars, but in reality, everyone is looking to return to the Moon in very short order as well.
And China was just the first country to ever successfully bring back samples from the dark side of the Moon.
Now, they’ve cracked one open, and everyone is dying to know what’s in there.
Chang’e 6, their robotic lunar lander, touched down on Earth with around 4.3 pounds of samples from the far side of the Moon.
Ge Ping, a senior official overseeing the program, said they are “thicker and stickier” than the samples collected from the near side, and also contain some “lumps.”
The deputy designer of the China National Space Administration mission said in a statement that they “may have very different mineral chemical compositions” than previous samples as well.
“In other words, we only know about half of the moon from the samples collected in the past.”
China will continue studying the samples until the end of 2024, when they plan to open them up to the international community.
Except for the Americans, due to a law barring government funding for direct cooperation with China.
I guess we can’t sit with them.
If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about a second giant hole has opened up on the sun’s surface. Here’s what it means.