9 On September 9, the National Space Administration and the National Atomic Energy Agency jointly announced that Chinese scientists discovered new minerals on the moon for the first time and named them "Chang'e Stone". This mineral is the sixth new mineral discovered by humans on the moon. my country has become the third country in the world to discover new minerals on the moon. This is also another major scientific achievement in the research of Chang'e-5 lunar samples.
On the moon, which is 380,000 kilometers away from the earth, where does the "Chang'e Stone" exist? How was it discovered? What new progress has been made in the research of lunar samples in my country?
was found in the basalt fragments of Chang'e-5 lunar samples. It is a new phosphate mineral.
1 Experts introduced that "Chang'e-stone" was found in the basalt crumbs of Chang'e-5 lunar samples. It is a new phosphate mineral, belonging to the meteorite sodium magnesium calcium stone family. It is a columnar crystal with a particle size of 2-30 microns.
China Nuclear Corporation Nuclear Industry Beijing Geological Research Institute (hereinafter referred to as China Nuclear Corporation Nuclear Research Institute) lunar sample research team, through a series of technical means such as X-ray diffraction, separated an single crystal particle with a particle size of about 10 microns in 140,000 lunar sample particles, and successfully interpreted its crystal structure . It was voted by the International Mineral Society (IMA) New Minerals Nomenclature and Classification Committee (CNMNC) and confirmed as a new mineral. According to reports, this mineral is the sixth new mineral discovered by humans on the moon.
"The discovery of new minerals provides more basic scientific data for the formation and evolution of the moon, and deepens human understanding of the moon and the solar system." Dong Baotong, deputy director of the National Atomic Energy Agency, said that this is a major scientific achievement in the field of space science in my country and a successful exploration of cross-industry and cross-professional collaborative cooperation.
The English name of "Chang'e Stone" is Changesite-(Y), and it is a name carefully selected by the research team for it. "First of all, this is a lunar sample commemorating the first time that my country's Chang'e lunar exploration project retrieved; secondly, it clarifies that the mineral comes from the residence of the traditional Chinese myth "Chang'e", that is, the moon; it also shows that the mineral is taken from the landing point of Chang'e 5 (Chang'e). Finally, 'S' is both the Chinese pinyin 'Shi' and the first letter starting with the English 'Stone-Stone', and is also closer to 'Chang'e' in terms of pronunciation, which is easy to understand at home and abroad." Li Ziying, the leader of the team and chief engineer of the major project of the China National Nuclear Corporation Nuclear and Earth Research Institute, introduced Li Ziying .
According to reports, "Chang'eshi" is another lunar related name with Chinese cultural characteristics and recognized by the international community in the field of lunar science exploration after the naming of 35 lunar geographical entities such as " Guanghan Palace ", "Weaver Girl", and "He Gu". It once again demonstrates the Chinese romance of the integration of science and technology and culture and art.
Hidden sample microscope photo. (Picture source: Photo provided by China National Nuclear Corporation Nuclear Research Institute/China News Service)
counted 140,000 lunar sample particles. After detailed mineralogical research, the discovery process of "Chang'e Stone" was not easy.
In July 2021, Chang'e-5 lunar samples were opened to the whole society, and the China National Nuclear Corporation Nuclear and Earth Research Institute became one of the first 13 research institutions to obtain lunar samples. The researchers carefully picked up 50 mg of the lunar sample.
"equivalent to the weight of 3 rice particles, and according to the agreement, only 20 mg of loss is allowed during the lunar soil research process." Researcher Huang Zhixin, the responsible person of the first batch of lunar samples of the China National Nuclear Corporation Nuclear and Earth Research Institute, said. However, under a microscope, 1 mg of lunar soil has tens of thousands of particles. "Each lunar soil is very precious, and the research team is selecting and calculating each one." Huang Zhixin said.
"The selection of lunar soil does not allow the introduction of foreign substance pollution. It can only rely on the little static electricity generated by friction between the needle tip and the particles to adsorb the sample." said Li Ting, a researcher at the Nuclear and Earth Research Institute of China National Nuclear Corporation.During the difficult experiment, the research team discovered clues about the new minerals. The particle size of this suspected new mineral is less than 10 microns. "After analysis, it was found that its chemical composition was completely new, and no one of the minerals known to humans was consistent with its chemical composition," said Li Ziying.
A mineral must be determined as a new mineral. In addition to providing chemical composition information, it also needs to provide crystal structure information. The research team was stumped again. "This particle interacts with pyroxene . There is no way to remove pyroxene from both experimental methods and later data processing, and has never obtained ideal structural data." Li Ting said.
Researchers turned their attention to the second moonlight photosheet sample applied for. "We counted 140,000 particles on the sample and found some traces of "Chang'e stone", but there is only one that has the hope to detect a single crystal structure, and this one cracked into three small pieces." Li Ziying introduced that the research team finally seized one in 140,000 opportunity and used a focused ion beam electron microscope to cut out a pure single crystal particle, then transferred the particles to a single crystal diffractometer to collect data, and finally interpreted the crystal structure of "Chang'e stone".
After a series of detailed mineralogical research on Raman spectroscopy, crystal lightness description, physical properties calculation and other systems, at the end of 2021, the research team determined that this is a phosphate mineral that has never been discovered, unveiling the mystery of "Chang'e Stone".
lunar sample research continues to be carried out, which is of great significance to understanding the origin and evolution of the moon, etc.
On December 17, 2020, Chang'e 5 carried 1731 grams of lunar sample back to Earth.
According to reports, the National Space Administration has completed the issuance of 4 batches of 152 lunar samples totaling 53,625.7 mg, and 98 applicants from 33 scientific research institutions have passed the application. Chinese Academy of Sciences , Ministry of Education, Ministry of Natural Resources , Chinese Nuclear Corporation and other units were approved to undertake the research of lunar samples, and foreign scientists and international students also participated in the joint research. Liu Jizhong, deputy commander-in-chief of the lunar exploration project and director of the Lunar Exploration and Aerospace Engineering Center, introduced that all scientific research teams have actively carried out research work and achieved remarkable results. At present, 23 articles have been published in famous academic journals at home and abroad and 1 patent has been applied for. Recent results mainly include magma differentiation, space weathering, helium-3 gas and bioenergy transformation, which are of great enlightenment for understanding the origin and evolution of the moon, exploring the effective utilization of lunar resources, and realizing the "zero energy consumption" extraterrestrial environment and life support system.
At present, research on lunar scientific research samples is still underway. The fifth batch of sample applications have been reviewed and will be issued according to the procedures in the future. "As the gradual deepening of sample research, we expect new and greater results," said Liu Jizhong. (End)
Author/Feng Hua
Editor: Taoran
