Forty-five years after the Apollo and Luna missions returned lunar samples, China's Chang’E-5 (CE-5) mission collected new samples from the mid-latitude region in the northeastern Oceanus Procellarum of the Moon. Our study shows that 95% of CE-5 lunar soil sizes are found to be within the range of 1.40–9.35 μm, while 95% of the soils by mass are within the size range of 4.84–432.27 μm. The bulk density, true density and specific surface area of CE-5 soils are 1.2387 g/cm³, 3.1952 g/cm³ and 0.56 m²/g, respectively. Fragments from the CE-5 regolith are classified into igneous clasts (mostly basalt), agglutinate and glass. A few breccias were also found. The minerals and compositions of CE-5 soils are consistent with mare basalts and can be classified as low-Ti/low-Al/low-K type with lower rare-earth-element contents than materials rich in potassium, rare earth element and phosphorus. CE-5 soils have high FeO and low Mg index, which could represent a new class of basalt.

The Moon has a magmatic and thermal history that is distinct from that of the terrestrial planets¹. Radioisotope dating of lunar samples suggests that most lunar basaltic magmatism ceased by around 2.9–2.8 billion years ago (Ga)^2,3, although younger basalts between 3 Ga and 1 Ga have been suggested by crater-counting chronology, which has large uncertainties owing to the lack of returned samples for calibration^4,5. Here we report a precise lead–lead age of 2,030 ± 4 million years ago for basalt clasts returned by the Chang’e-5 mission, and a ²³⁸U/²⁰⁴Pb ratio (µ value)⁶ of about 680 for a source that evolved through two stages of differentiation. This is the youngest crystallization age reported so far for lunar basalts by radiometric dating, extending the duration of lunar volcanism by approximately 800–900 million years. The µ value of the Chang’e-5 basalt mantle source is within the range of low-titanium and high-titanium basalts from Apollo sites (µ value of about 300–1,000), but notably lower than those of potassium, rare-earth elements and phosphorus (KREEP) and high-aluminium basalts⁷ (µ value of about 2,600–3,700), indicating that the Chang’e-5 basalts were produced by melting of a KREEP-poor source. This age provides a pivotal calibration point for crater-counting chronology in the inner Solar System and provides insight on the volcanic and thermal history of the Moon.

The Chang'E-6 (CE-6) mission successfully achieved return of the first samples from the far side of the Moon. The sampling site of CE-6 is located in the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin—the largest, deepest and oldest impact basin on the Moon. The 1935.3 g of CE-6 lunar samples exhibit distinct characteristics compared with previous lunar samples. This study analyses the physical, mineralogical, petrographic and geochemical properties of CE-6 lunar scooped samples. The CE-6 soil has a significantly lower bulk density (0.983 g/cm³) and true density (3.035 g/cm³) than the Chang'E-5 (CE-5) samples. The grain size of the CE-6 soil exhibits a bimodal distribution, indicating a mixture of different compositions. Mineralogically, the CE-6 soil consists of 32.6% plagioclase (anorthite and bytownite), 19.7% augite, 10% pigeonite and 3.6% orthopyroxene, and with low content of olivine (0.5%) but high content of amorphous glass (29.4%). Geochemically, the bulk composition of CE-6 soil is rich in Al₂O₃ (14%) and CaO (12%) but low in FeO (17%), and trace elements of CE-6 soil such as K (∼630 ppm), U (0.26 ppm), Th (0.92 ppm) and rare-earth elements are significantly lower than those of the lunar soils within the Procellarum KREEP Terrane. The local basalts are characterized by low-Ti (TiO₂, 5.08%), low-Al (Al₂O₃ 9.85%) and low-K (∼830 ppm), features suggesting that the CE-6 soil is a mixture of local basalts and non-basaltic ejecta. The returned CE-6 sample contains diverse lithic fragments, including local mare basalt, breccia, agglutinate, glasses and leucocrate. These local mare basalts document the volcanic history of the lunar far side, while the non-basaltic fragments may offer critical insights into the lunar highland crust, SPA impact melts and potentially the deep lunar mantle, making these samples highly significant for scientific research.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the pace of lunar exploration has accelerated, with more than a dozen probes having undertaken scientific exploration of the Moon. Prominent among these have been the robotic “Chang’E” (CE) missions of the China Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP). We discuss technological and scientific goals and achievements for the four completed, and four planned, CE missions, and longer-term goals and plans of the CLEP beyond the CE missions. The exploration plan is flexible and iterative, with an emphasis on international cooperation.

The complex stratigraphic structure of the Moon's farside imaged for the first time using subsurface radar.