[Reading Science] No 'Hitler Secret Base' Inside the Far Side of the Moon's Soil Either

US Research Team Analyzes Chinese Rover Observations
Discovers 300m Underground Structure on Moon's Far Side
Finds 5 Lava Layers, Multilayered Regolith Structure

The far side of the Moon, which faces away from the Earth, has never been directly observed by humanity. There have even been rumors to the extent that there is a UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) base on the far side of the Moon, and that Hitler created a base there to escape after losing World War II. However, since China's Chang'e-4 lunar lander made the first-ever landing on the far side of the Moon in 2018, its secrets have gradually been revealed. Recently, scientists have attracted attention by discovering the underground structure of the Moon's far side.

A planetary science research team specializing in astrogeology at an institute in Arizona, USA, published a research paper on the 7th in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. The team utilized the Lunar Penetrating Radar (LPR) installed on Yutu-2, the rover that landed on the Moon aboard China's Chang'e-4. This equipment sends radio waves deep into the lunar subsurface and receives the returning signals. Through the echoes or reflected radio waves, the team was able to identify the underground structure beneath the lunar surface. In 2020, the team had already published results confirming the structure up to 40 meters underground on the Moon's far side using LPR data sent by Yutu-2. This time, they extended the depth to 300 meters.

In the recent paper, the research team first confirmed that up to 40 meters underground on the Moon's far side, there is a multilayered geological structure composed of dust, soil, and broken rocks. They also considered that debris scattered around craters at the observed sites were remnants left after meteorite impacts. Notably, at depths greater than 40 meters, they identified five layers of lava structures that have formed the Moon's crustal structure over billions of years. Additionally, the team confirmed that the processes of crust formation, including volcanic activity and lava extrusion, have gradually slowed down over time.

Scientists estimate that the Moon was formed about 4.51 billion years ago, making it slightly younger than the Solar System. The prevailing theory is the giant impact hypothesis, which suggests that the Moon was created from debris resulting from a collision between the Earth and a Mars-sized body. Since its formation, numerous fragments of asteroids and comets have collided with the lunar surface, creating impact craters and other terrain features. In particular, in the early stages, the mantle deep within the Moon's crust existed in a liquid state, and volcanic eruptions caused cracks on the surface, allowing lava to seep out and form the crustal structure.