China announced this Friday the discovery of a new mineral on the Moon, called Change Site-(Y)the sixth found by mankind on Earth’s natural satellite.
THE China thus became the third country to identify an unknown mineral on the Moon., after the United States and Russia. The vice president of the China Atomic Energy Authority, Dong Baotong, announced the name of the mineral, which is found in lunar basalt particles, at a press conference, according to the official Global Times newspaper.
The New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification Commission of the International Mineralogical Association confirmed the finding, obtained from samples collected by the International Mineralogical Association. Chang’e Mission 5 of the lunar surface in 2020. Several institutions in the Asian country participated in the study of the samples, including the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Ministries of Education and Natural Resources.
The scientists stressed that the material collected by the Chinese lunar mission and the investigations carried out are of great importance to understand the origin and evolution of the Moon, as well as the possibilities of using its resources effectively. In June of last year, the discovery of high-pressure minerals was announced in samples collected on the surface of the Moon by the same probe, such as fragments of seifertite and stishovite, minerals formed from silicon dioxide subjected to high temperatures and pressures.
The Chang’e program (named for a goddess who, according to Chinese legend, lives on the Moon) began with the launch of a first probe in 2007. In recent years, Beijing has invested billions of dollars in its program. space and has achieved important milestones such as the successful landing of a probe on the far side of the Moon in January 2019, an achievement that no country had achieved so far.
Source: Observadora
