Chang'e-6 lunar samples reshape view of early Solar System impacts

China’s Chang’e‑6 mission returned about two kilograms of rock and regolith from the Moon’s far side South Pole‑Aitken basin. Using single‑clast ^40Ar/^39Ar dating, researchers traced impact melt deposits from roughly 4.33 billion to 1.13 billion years ago. The data show a gradual decline in asteroid bombardment rather than the brief, intense spike traditionally called the Late Heavy Bombardment. By comparing these far‑side samples with the near‑side Apollo collection, scientists argue that the earlier model of a sudden cataclysm is unlikely. Dr Fred Jourdan of Curtin University described the Moon as a “time capsule” preserving evidence erased from Earth by erosion and plate tectonics. The findings could revise theories of early planetary evolution and the timing of conditions that made Earth hospitable for life.