Glass spheres on the Moon

February 26, 2022

Chinese rover Yutu-2 recently discovered mysterious glass spheres on far side of the moon. The paper highlighting the discovery was published in Science Bulletin.

Key Facts

Peculiar morphology, geometry, and local context of the glass globules, collectively, are consistent with being anorthositic impact glasses.
As the first discovery of translucent and macroscopic glass globules on the Moon, the study predicts that such globules should be abundant across lunar highland. It also provides promising sampling targets to reveal early impact history of the Moon.
The cube-like object was sighted on the horizon, around 80 metres from its location. It triggered new speculation over what it could be.
Solar-powered Yutu, called as “Jade Rabbit” in Chinese, will cover a distance of 80 metres in two to three lunar days.

Why was Glass discovered on moon?

Glass isn’t uncommon on the Moon. Glass forms when silicate material is subjected to high temperature. Silicate material and high temperature are readily available on the Moon. There was extensive volcanism in the lunar past, which in turn lead to the formation of volcanic glass. Furthermore, impacts from smaller objects like meteorites also generate intense heat, which led to formation of glass.

About Yutu

Yutu-2 is a robotic lunar rover component of Chang’e 4 mission to the Moon, by CNSA. It was launched on December 7, 2018. The rover entered lunar orbit on December 12, 2018 before its first soft landing on far side of the Moon on January 3, 2019. It is currently operational as most long-lived lunar rover. It is the first lunar rover to traverse the far side of the Moon. It is operating in Von Karman Crater in South Pole-Aitken Basin. As of January 2022, it has travelled a distance of around 1,000 metres along the Moon’s surface.

China National Space Administration (CNSA)

CNSA is the government agency of China, which is responsible for international space cooperation and civil space administration. It organizes or leads foreign exchanges and cooperation in aerospace field. It works under ‘Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’. It is headquartered in Haidian District, Beijing.

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