Chang'E-6 samples will answer 6 important questions
- The age of SPA. The CE-6 mission is expected to collect the impact melt formed during the formation of SPA to accurately obtain its age.
- The age of the Apollo crater. There is a high probability that the CE-6 samples contain impact melt from the Apollo crater. The radiometric ages of SPA basin and Apollo crater can greatly promote the study of the early lunar impact flux.
- The major mineral composition of the lunar mantle. The formation process of SPA basin exposes lunar mantle material, but due to the lack of observation of large-scale olivine, some studies speculate that the main component of the lunar mantle is low-calcium pyroxene rather than olivine like the earth. Geochemical analysis of the samples will help to uncover this mystery.
- The lunar impact flux function. With the radiometric ages of the samples and the crater size-frequency distribution of the areas represented by the samples, the lunar impact flux function can be further optimized. This is the only sample from the far side of the Moon, and it is of great significance for studying the distribution of lunar impact fluxes.
- The volcanic eruption inside SPA basin. Current research shows that the thickness of the lunar crust inside SPA is small, but there is no large-scale basalt exposure inside. Geochemical research on CE-6 samples, especially the comparison with the chemical composition of basalt on the nearside of the Moon, will help solve this problem.
- The asymmetry of the Moon. By combining the above analyses, the long-standing issue of the asymmetry between the near and far sides of the Moon on the crust thickness, volcanic activity, internal structure is expected to be resolved, which has perplexed geologists for decades.
https://www.cell.com/the-innovation/pdf/S2666-6758(24)00101-2.pdf