China’s Chang’e 5 lunar mission brought back youngest rock samples ever collected on the moon
- The samples of basalt rock were formed by a volcanic eruption almost a billion years after samples collected by US and Soviet missions were formed
- The discovery confirms a suspicion that volcanic activity continued on the moon for much longer than previously thought
The results confirmed what experts had long predicted based on remotely obtained images of the moon and showed that the moon was volcanically active later than expected.
02:12
Chang'e 5 returning to China with lunar rock samples
The findings were published in the journal Science on Friday by a team of 25 researchers from Australia, Britain, China, Sweden and the United States.
“There was an indication from remote observations that there are young basalts on the moon, but this is the first direct confirmation that they truly exist,” lead author Alexander Nemchin, a professor from Curtin University’s Space Science and Technology Centre in Australia, said.
“It also confirms that our remote observation techniques work, which is good news for people studying not only the moon, but also other planets, like Mars.”
The Chang’e 5 probe completed a 23-day mission in December and returned with the first moon samples in 44 years, making China the third country to do so after the United States and Soviet Union.
