MOON — China's Chang'e 4 lunar mission has provided a glimpse into what lies beneath the far side of the moon.<br /><br />On January 3, 2019, the Chang'e 4 lunar probe landed on the floor of the Von Karman crater, on the moon's south pole. CNN reports that several hours after touchdown, the Chang'e 4 deployed the Yutu-2 to roam and explore the surface.<br /><br />According to a paper published in Science Advances, the rover used its Lunar Penetrating Radar to send radio signals to the lunar subsurface, up to a depth of 40 meters.<br /><br />Paper author Li Chunlai says this is three times the depth that the Chang'e 3, China's previous mission, was able to measure.<br /><br />After combining the radar image with tomographic data and quantitative analysis, researchers found that the subsurface was made primarily of highly porous, granular material, embedded with boulders of different sizes.<br /><br />According to CNN, this is likely due to the moon being frequently hit by meteors and other space debris during the early days of the solar system.<br /><br />When an object strikes the moon, the impact ejects a wave of material. The cratered surface becomes the top layer over time, with layers of boulder and fine debris buried beneath.<br /><br />Researchers say the findings could shed more light on the geological evolution of the moon's dark side. And as Yutu-2 continues to explore the area, the team is also looking into the possibility of returning samples to Earth.
