(250410) -- BEIJING, April 10, 2025 (Xinhua) -- A researcher displays the lunar sample to be tested at the Nano Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer Laboratory (NanoSIMS Lab) of the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, capital of China, April 8, 2025.
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.
TO GO WITH "China Focus: Drier lunar far side offers insight on moon's evolution" (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)
