Deeper solar wind penetration on the Moon’s farside from noble gas records
15 July 2026 at 01:00
Nature Geoscience, Published online: 15 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41561-026-02042-w
Krypton and xenon in lunar farside soils are derived from solar wind and suggest deeper penetration because the solar wind is not slowed by Earth’s magnetosphere. This contrasts with the nearside, according to noble gas analyses of soil samples collected by the Chang’e-6 mission.