The first lunar samples from the moon’s far side differ in some interesting ways from those collected from the near side, according to two new studies.

China's Chang'e-6 robotic spacecraft in June made history by retrieving the first surface samples from the far side of the moon, which perpetually faces away from Earth. That material is now providing new insight into the moon's geological history including the oldest evidence to date of lunar volcanism.

Space volcanoes have erupted on dark side of moon for over a billion years, scientists find - Li said the new findings reveal over 1 billion years of volcanic eruptions on the lunar far side. One piece of volcanic rock dated back 4.