Chinese rover finds strange rocks that may come from deep inside the moon
The record-setting Chang’e-4 mission might have spotted minerals that would reveal long-held secrets about the moon's origins.
Kicking off the new year with a bang, China made history in early January by landing the first-ever spacecraft on the far side of the moon. Now, results from that mission suggest another bombshell: the first signs of lunar mantle material available for scientific study.
Yutu-2, the rover partner to the Chang’e-4 lander, used reflected radiation to analyze the minerals within its landing site inside the moon’s Von Kármán crater. In doing so, it spotted layers rich in two mineral types that aren’t a match for typical lunar crust. The study authors argue that it is likely these mineral patches represent upper mantle material, according to work appearing today in the journal Nature.
If confirmed, mantle rock from the moon
