John Adoyi, PBA Journalism Mentee
Chinese astronauts on Friday announced the discovery of a never before seen mineral on the moon which they say brings them closer to the evolution and origin of the Earth satellite.
The China National Space Administration together with the China Atomic Energy Authority made the announcement in Beijing on Friday that the new mineral which they named Changesite-(Y) was found by scientists at the Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology from surface samples returned by the country’s Chang’e 5 mission and has been certified by the International Mineralogical Association and its Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification.
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According to China Atomic Energy Authority vice chairman Dong Baotong, Chinese astronauts found a phosphate mineral in columnar crystal found in lunar basalt particles and was manually separated by researchers from more than 140,000 tiny particles and then analyzed through a series of advanced mineralogical methods.
“This is a major scientific achievement China has made in the field of space science, and it is also a powerful exploration of cross-industry and cross-professional cooperation between nuclear and aerospace,” said Dong.
This new discovery makes China the third country to discover mineral on the Luna surface behind the United State and Russia and the new mineral is the 6th mineral to be discovered on the moon.
The Chang’e 5 mission was launched o Nov 24 2020 and since then, brought back rock samples to the earth.
