4.3-billion-year record
First samples from the lunar farside returned by Chang'e-6 reveal a smooth long-term decline in bombardment rather than a cataclysmic spike.
Wan-Wan, Zhang · Zhang, Le · Lin, Mang · Jourdan, Fred · Wang Jun-Jie, · Zhang, Yan‑qiang · Chen, You · Peng-Li, He · Su, Fei · He, Huaiyu · Qiu, Huaning · Xia, Xiaoping · Xiao, Ming · Jiang, Ying · Zhang, Jia · Kun-yang, Wang · Huang, Fang · Wei, Bo · Wang, Ze · Zhou, Qin · Cao, Hua · Shi-Xian, Cui · Yang, Qing · Lin, Chen Sheng Li · Gang-Yi, Xu
Science Advances 2026
Impact events spanning from ~4.33 to ~1.13 billion years
Only two ages fall at 4.0 to 3.7 Ga