"Chang'e Stone"! Chinese scientists discovered a new mineral on the moon for the first time!

On September 9, the eve of the traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, the National Space Administration and the National Atomic Energy Agency jointly released the latest scientific results of Chang'e 5 in Beijing: Chinese scientists discovered a new mineral on the moon for the first time and named it "Chang'e Stone". This mineral is the sixth new mineral discovered by humans on the moon, and China has become the third country in the world to discover a new mineral on the moon.

"Chang'e Stone"

"Chang'e Stone" is a phosphate mineral with columnar crystals, which exists in lunar basalt particles. The innovative team of the Beijing Institute of Geology of the Nuclear Industry of China National Nuclear Corporation, through a series of high-tech means such as X-ray diffraction, separated a single crystal particle with a diameter of about 10 microns from 140,000 lunar sample particles, and successfully interpreted its crystal structure. It was voted by the New Mineral Classification and Nomenclature Committee (CNMNC) of the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) and confirmed as a new mineral.

The true face of lunar samples

Microscope photos of lunar samples

On December 17, 2020, Chang'e-5 returned to Earth with 1,731 grams of lunar samples. The National Space Administration has completed the distribution of four batches of 152 lunar samples totaling 53,625.7 mg, and 98 applicants from 33 scientific research institutions have passed the application. The fifth batch of lunar samples is completing the review and will be distributed according to the procedures. The Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Natural Resources, China National Nuclear Corporation and other units have been approved to undertake the research on lunar samples, and foreign scientists and international students have also participated in the joint research. At present, the latest results have been achieved in magma differentiation, space weathering, helium-3 gas and bioenergy conversion , which has important implications for understanding the origin and evolution of the moon, exploring the effective use of lunar resources, and realizing the "zero energy consumption" extraterrestrial environment and life support system.

Scanning electron microscope photos of Chang'e stone and associated minerals

Chang'e Stone Structure