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New type of mineral on Moon
September 28 , 2022
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- A new type of crystal was discovered by researchers in China from the near side of the Moon.
- 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.
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