The far side of the Moon once had erupting volcanoes, research confirms

Volcanoes erupted on the mysterious far side of the Moon billions of years ago, just like on the side we can see, new research confirms.

The researchers analyzed lunar fragments brought back by China's Chang'e-6 spacecraft, the first spacecraft to return with a cargo of rocks from the little-explored far side of the satellite.

Two separate teams found fragments of volcanic rock that were about 2.8 billion years old.

A part was even more ancient, dating back to 4.2 billion years, he writes yahoonews, the Telegraph reports.

"To get a sample from this area is really important because it's an area that we otherwise don't have data for," said Christopher Hamilton, an expert on planetary volcanoes at the University of Arizona who was not involved in the research. .

Scientists know that there were active volcanoes on the near side, the first part from Earth.

But studies and data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter suggest that the far side may also have a volcanic past.

It is reported that the results were published in the journals Nature and Science.

In contrast, the far side of the Moon is covered in craters and has fewer flat, dark areas.

"Why the two halves of the satellite are so different remains a mystery," said study co-author Qiu-Li Li. /Telegraph/