Scientists eager for Chang’e-6 lunar farside samples to bring new discoveries

The tidal locking effect keeps the Moon consistently presents its one side—the near side—to Earth,rendering the other side—the far side—inaccessible for people standing on Earth.Consequently,the far side of the Moon remained shrouded in mystery for human observers until the onset of space exploration.In 1959,the Soviet Union’s Luna 3 spacecraft returned the first views ever of the far side of the Moon.Despite the blurriness of the photo by contemporary standards,the stark contrast between the near side and far side of the Moon was striking.Since then,a growing number of orbital probes have revealed significant differences between the two sides of the Moon,including lunar crust thickness,magma activities,and compositions.However,the origins of these differences remain unexplained.