Chinese scientists have identified why lunar soil collected by the Chang’e-6 mission from the moon’s far side is unusually cohesive. The samples, returned in 2024, were found to be significantly stickier and more clumped than soil from the near side, prompting a detailed investigation by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Experiments measuring the soil’s angle of repose showed that the far-side samples behave more like cohesive terrestrial soils. Researchers found that the soil’s finer, flour-like texture—combined with angular, rough particles—enhances forces such as static electricity, making the material unusually sticky.
The study concludes that the far side’s harsher environment, including heavier meteorite bombardment and full exposure to charged particles due to the lack of Earth’s magnetic shielding, produces these fine, angular particles. The findings, published in Nature Astronomy, are expected to aid future exploration and base-building on the moon’s far side.
Credit : CGTN
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