[First results from #DORN on the #Moon] The recovery of samples of #regolith and lunar rocks, coupled with the analysis of #surface gases by the #DORN instrument, has enabled the scientists involved in the #ChangE6 mission to identify the occurrence of two volcanic episodes on the far side of the Moon, 4.2 and 2.8 billion years ago. For the record, the samples brought back by the #Apollo and #Luna missions from the visible side of our satellite attest to a single volcanic event, dating back more than 3 billion years.
Further analyses are underway, which will “refine previous observations made by remote sensing, which have shown that the far side of the Moon is different, in terms of #geophysics (differences in crustal thickness, for example) and the chemical and mineralogical composition of the rocks, from that of the visible side”, explains Pierre-Yves Meslin, astronomer at IRAP.
Info+ : https://www.polytechnique-insights.com/tribunes/espace/la-face-cachee-de-la-lune-les-premiers-echantillons-arrivent-sur-terre/