Why does the far side of the Moon have more craters than the near side?

The far side of the Moon looks more heavily cratered because it did not get as much resurfacing by volcanic lava flows as the near side. The near side has large dark basalt plains, or maria, formed by ancient eruptions that filled in many impact basins. The far side’s crust is also thicker on average, which made it harder for magma to break through and resurface the terrain. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has mapped this contrast in great detail since 2009. Chinese mission Chang’e 4 became the first spacecraft to land on the far side in 2019.