5 Key Takeaways

• 1

  The Chang’e-6 mission revealed that the South Pole–Aitken basin impact caused significant volatile loss within the Moon.

• 2

  High-precision isotopic analyses showed unusually heavy potassium isotopes in basalt clasts from the SPA basin.

• 3

  These potassium isotopic signatures differ from those in Apollo samples, indicating a modification of the lunar mantle.

• 4

  The study concluded that potassium evaporation during the SPA impact is the most plausible explanation for the observed isotopic enrichment.

• 5

  Numerical simulations suggested that the impact generated extreme temperatures, influencing lunar volcanic activity asymmetry.