Fig. 1: Return sample missions with lunar water estimates and the thorium distribution of the Moon. | Nature

Fig. 1: Return sample missions with lunar water estimates and the thorium distribution of the Moon.

From: Water abundance in the lunar farside mantle

Fig. 1

The Apollo (prefix A), Luna (prefix L), and Chang’e-5 (CE5) missions collected samples in and around the Procellarum KREEP Terrane which exhibits notably higher thorium (Th) than the Feldspathic Highlands and the SPA Basin. The Chang’e-6 (CE6) mission returned the first lunar samples from the lunar farside from the SPA Basin. The terrane boundaries are from ref. 5 and the Th base map is adapted from ref. 45. The sizes of the circles are scaled to the estimated maximum water abundance1,9,33 in the mantle source beneath the sampling sites.

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