Russian scientists are preparing equipment and methods for studying lunar soil samples from the far side of the Moon, delivered by the Chinese mission "Chang'e-6". This was announced by Dmitry Zarubin, leading engineer and coordinator of international projects at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IKI RAN).
The "Chang'e-6" samples were received recently, and preparations for experiments are underway. The main thing here is not to rush and to prepare all the necessary equipment and methods.
The samples themselves arrived at IKI RAN on June 3, 2026: Russian specialists received 1.5 grams of material — 1 gram of soil from the lunar surface and 0.5 grams of substance extracted from beneath the surface using robotic means.
The "Chang'e-6" mission in 2024 for the first time delivered samples from the far side of the Moon to Earth. The total mass of the returned material was about 1.94 kg, and Russian scientists received a small portion of this collection for their own research.
The uniqueness of the transferred samples lies in the fact that they allow working not with remote data about the side of the satellite invisible from Earth, but directly with the substance taken from its surface and from beneath it.
IKI RAN plans to study the composition of the lunar substance. Among the interesting areas, the institute specifically mentions the search for volatile compounds that could have been preserved in the composition of lunar minerals.