China’s lunar rover Yutu ends 60-year riddle of moon’s mantle with discovery of mineral olivine
- Yutu’s discovery of olivine helps pave the way for scientists to confirm existence of a mantle beneath the moon’s crust
- Crystallised mineral likely came from a crater caused by a meteor strike
China’s lunar rover, Yutu, has made a groundbreaking discovery that proves what scientists have been thinking for decades: that the moon has a mantle.
Scientists have long suspected that the moon has a mantle under its crust, just like the Earth, but for the past 60 years lunar explorations, including the US Apollo missions, have failed to provide proof. While there were clues, there was no direct evidence.
“Now we have it,” said Professor Li Chunlai, deputy director of the National Astronomical Observatory of China and a lead scientist on the Chang’e-4 mission that put Yutu, or Jade Rabbit as it is known in English, on the moon.
The findings, published in the latest issue of journal Nature on Thursday, answer some fundamental questions about the moon, such as its internal structure and history of its formation.
During its first mission on January 3, Yutu discovered olivine, a green, crystallised mineral usually found deep underground – like the upper mantle of the Earth – in surface samples collected near its landing site.
