Chang’e-6 Archives

Representative organic matter in Chang'e-6 (A–B) and Chang'e-5 (C–D) lunar soils. Secondary electron images acquired by scanning electron microscopy overlaid with carbon elemental maps from energy-dispersive spectroscopy. Credit Image by HAO Jialong's Group

Artemis & Lunar Exploration, Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Icy Worlds, Moon, Press Release

Chang’e Mission Samples Reveal How Exogenous Organic Matter Evolves On The Moon

by Keith CowingApril 13, 2026April 13, 2026

Elements essential to life, such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur, were “delivered” to the Earth and Moon during the early stages of the Solar System via asteroids and […]

The Apollo (prefix A), Luna (prefix L), and Chang’e-5 (CE5) missions collected samples in and around the Procellarum KREEP Terrane which exhibits notably higher thorium (Th) than the Feldspathic Highlands and the SPA Basin. The Chang’e-6 (CE6) mission returned the first lunar samples from the lunar farside from the SPA Basin. The terrane boundaries are from ref. 5 and the Th base map is adapted from ref. 45. The sizes of the circles are scaled to the estimated maximum water abundance1,9,33 in the mantle source beneath the sampling sites. -- Nature

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Moon, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return, Status Report

Water Abundance In The Mantle Of The Moon’s Farside

by Keith CowingApril 15, 2025April 15, 2025

The water contents of the lunar interior record important clues for understanding the formation and subsequent thermochemical evolution of the Moon.

Chang’e-6

Chang’e Mission Samples Reveal How Exogenous Organic Matter Evolves On The Moon

Water Abundance In The Mantle Of The Moon’s Farside

Perseverance Astrobiology Droid Has Completed A Martian Marathon

Machine Learning And Deep Learning For Exoplanet Detection And Atmospheric Characterization With JWST And The Upcoming Ariel Mission

Bioleaching Of Critical Trace Metals By Sphingomonas Desiccabilis: Substrate-driven Selectivity In Earth And Space Analogues

TESS Reveals The Puffiest Exoplanets Ever Found

An Agnostic Machine Learning Model of Photosynthetic Habitability