China's New Discovery on the Dark Side of the Moon
China's Chang'e 4 lander has successfully landed on the dark side of the Moon and the country's scientists have made their first announcements.
Accordingly, the Moon's South Pole-Aitken basin region reveals the secrets of the mantle.
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In a study published in the journal Nature, scientists from the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences revealed that the composition of the lunar surface in the South Pole-Aitken Basin region is “slightly different” than expected.
Chinese scientists have new evidence that the Moon was not always as cold and dead as it is today. Instead, it likely began as a giant, molten mass of rock filled with a magma ocean.
These oceans gradually cooled, depositing heavy minerals such as green olivine or low-calcium pyroxene deeper into the lunar mantle. Less dense minerals rose to the top, giving the Moon a series of distinct geological layers. The crust, the uppermost layer, is composed mainly of aluminum silicate or plagioclase.
"Understanding the composition of the lunar mantle is crucial to testing whether a magma ocean exists, as has been suggested, and it also helps advance our understanding of the lunar thermal and magmatic evolution," said scientist Li Chunlai.
Understanding the composition of the Moon's mantle also helps scientists better understand the interior structure of other planets, including Earth.
Previously, the Chang'e-4 probe successfully landed on the surface of the Von Kármán crater in the South Pole-Aitken basin, on the far side of the Moon, at 10:26 a.m. on January 3, 2019 (Beijing time).