NEW YORK (AP) — New research confirms volcanoes were erupting on the far side of the moon billions of years ago. Researchers analyzed lunar soil brought back by China’s Chang’e-spacecraft and found fragments of volcanic rock that were about 2.8 billion years old. The oldest dated back to 4.2 billion years. Previous studies have suggested the moon’s far side might have a volcanic past, but this new work confirms it with moon rocks. Chang’e-6 returned to Earth earlier this year with rock and soil samples. It was the first mission to collect samples from the moon’s far side. The findings were published Friday in the journals Nature and Science.
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