China discovers new type of mineral on Moon

September 24, 2022

A new type of crystal was discovered by researchers in China from the near side of the Moon.

Key facts

The newly discovered crystal was named Changesite-(Y) after the Chinese moon goddess Chang’e.
This small and transparent crystal was found among the volcanic debris of the near side of the moon.
It is more than a billion years old and its width is almost comparable to human hair.
It has a unique composition and is related to other minerals found only found on the lunar surface or in meteors.
The crystal was found among the 1.8 km of lunar rocks brought back by Chang’e-5 mission in 2020.
These samples are the first to the delivered to the Earth from Moon since 1976 and the first ever lunar samples collected by China.
The Changesite-(Y) crystal is the sixth new mineral to be discovered on the Moon and the first identified by China. The previous 5 discoveries were made by either the United States or Russia.
The lunar samples from Chang’e-5 also had helium-3, a version of helium that is extremely rare on Earth but highly abundant on the Moon.
It is seen as a potential source of fuel for nuclear fusion, as it is known to emit lesser radiation and nuclear wastes than other elements.
It is found in abundant quantities as it was deposited directly onto the lunar soil for billions of years by solar wind.
The availability of Helium-3 on Earth is few and far between. Hence, its discovery has triggered a potential lunar resource race.
Several space-faring nations and private companies are looking to mine the moon for Helium-3, including the US and China.

About Chang’e-5 Mission

The Chang’e 5 is China’s first lunar sample-return mission launched in November 2020. It is China’s fifth lunar exploration mission. It returned the sample back to Earth in December 2020. It is the first lunar sample-return mission since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 in 1976. With Chang’e 5 mission, China became the third country after the US and the USSR to return lunar samples to the Earth.

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