Chinese scientists have found a new crystal-like lunar mineral hidden inside samples collected from the Moon in 2020.
Changesite–(Y), named after the mythological Chinese moon goddess, Chang’e, is a phosphate mineral and columnar crystal. It was found in lunar basalt particles being examined in laboratories in China.
The discovery was made by researchers at the Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology who found a single crystal of Changesite–(Y) using X-ray diffraction while studying particles collected on the Moon.
Related: The latest news on China’s space program
The finding was announced at a press conference on September 9. The Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification (CNCN (opens a new tab)) of the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) confirmed it as a new mineral, seconds (opens in a new tab) in Chinese state media Global Times.
The discovery means China is the third country to discover a new lunar mineral, after the United States and the former Soviet Union, which carried out the Apollo manned lunar landings and sample return missions of Luna, respectively.
The Change 5 The mission landed on Oceanus Procellarum in December 2020 and was the first mission to return lunar samples since the 1970s.
The mission collected 3.81 pounds (1.73 kilograms) of lunar samples and delivered them safely to Earth to study, resulting in a series of discoveries.
China’s next moon mission is expected to be Change 6. It will try to collect the first samples of the far side of the moon that never faces Earth.
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