has now created the first chemical map of the hidden face

While NASA chokes on the MoonChina is going like a rocket. Not literally, but they lack little. The satelliteand has become a priority again in space exploration due to its potential in scientific research, but also like mine and even as a ‘battery’and everyone wants their share of the space cheese. China is completing steps at an astonishing speed in their goal of going to the satellite and has just reached another milestone: they have created the first chemical map of the hidden side of the moon.

And it is something with the potential to accelerate the next steps on the satellite.

In short. A investigation conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tongji University and the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics has led to chemical mapping of the entire satellite. That includes something that was “unexplored” in this sense until now: the hidden face. Until nowalmost half of the lunar surface that remains hidden from our eyes was “uncharted chemical territory” because… well, we hadn’t been there.

In the Apollo missions, materials were collected that allowed, together with the observation missions, to carry out this chemical profile of the satellite, but only of the visible part. It is, in short, where we had been. The Chang’e-6 mission changed that when, in June 2024, returned from his mission on the hidden side with about two kilos of material from the South Pole-Aitken basin.

AI. They were the first samples collected from the far side and the only thing researchers could cling to if they wanted to develop that chemical profile of the satellite. It is, so that we understand each other, like the DNI, and to create the chemical map, they have used artificial intelligence.

They dumped the sample data along with other orbital spectral data collected by the multiband imager. Kaguya from Japan and, after a process of data cleaning and refinement, the researchers have mapped the distribution of six large groups of oxides. We are talking about iron, titanium, aluminum, silicon, calcium and magnesium, and this is something that allows us to develop a hypothetical historical profile of the Moon.

For example, we now know that the highlands have a higher concentration of magnesian rocks compared to the visible side. And even if you think “so what,” this indicates that the Moon’s magma ocean crystallized asymmetrically: first in one of the hemispheres and then in the other.

Importance. There is still data to be revealed, but this chemical map is more important than it may seem. It is a different way of mapping the satellite and… well, it conditions everything we want to do on the Moon soon. Rough wayis a key advance to understand both the elemental composition and the geological evolution of the planet. You can also create a chronology of impacts and something more “useful”: it is a guide for future missions.

By having data on the composition of the soil and the probability that there are more or less resources In certain areas, this chemical map allows moon landing sites to be selected based on very specific data. For example, if future missions want to focus on collecting regolith rich in certain elements, the chemical map is a thread of clues to pull on.

Future. Because we are no longer talking about “well, when we return to the Moon…” we are talking about powers that have very clear plans not only to send automated probes, but to set foot, again, on the satellite. He NASA’s Artemis program -which continues to accumulate problems- will be the first manned flight around the Moon in 50 years, and future trips They are aiming for lunar landings.

China, for its part, wants to send the Chang’e 7 probe to the south pole in search of ice; Chang’e 8 to test the utilization of resources directly on the satellite and manned flight missions for 2028 and a moon landing in 2030. Russia was also in the loop with the Luna project, as well as the creation of the space base in collaboration with China, but its solo projects have been delayed.

Therefore, the fact that we have the first chemical map of the satellite is not only an achievement to satisfy scientific curiosity, but also a guide for those future missions on the ground.

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