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Changesite-(Y)
Changesite-(Y), with the chemical formula (Ca8Y) □Fe2+(PO4)7, is a mineral found forming colorless transparent columnar crystals in basalt particles on the Moon. Changesite-(Y) is a member of the merrillite group of phosphate minerals. History Changesite-(Y) was first identified by researchers at the Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology. They discovered a single crystal of Changesite–(Y) using X-ray diffraction while examining particles collected from the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program's fifth lunar exploration mission, Chang'e 5, which is also China's first sample-return mission to the Moon. The mineral is named after Chang'e, the Moon goddess in Chinese mythology. China National Space Administration and China Atomic Energy Authority jointly announced the discovery of Changesite-(Y) in Beijing on September 9, 2022, and its recognition has been approved by the International Mineralogical Association and its Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classificat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chang'e 5
Chang'e 5 () was the fifth lunar exploration mission in the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program of CNSA, and China's first lunar sample-return mission. Like its predecessors, the spacecraft is named after the Chinese moon goddess, Chang'e. It launched at 20:30 UTC on 23 November 2020, from Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on Hainan Island, landed on the Moon on 1 December 2020, collected ~ of lunar samples (including from a core ~1 m deep), and returned to the Earth at 17:59 UTC on 16 December 2020. Chang'e 5 was the first lunar sample-return mission since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976. New lunar minerals, including Changesite-(Y) and two different structures of the titanium compound Ti2O, were identified from the samples returned from the mission, making China the third country to discover a new lunar mineral. The mission also made China the third country to return samples from the Moon after the United States and the Soviet Union. Overview The Chinese Lunar Expl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mare Basalts
Moon rock or lunar rock is rock originating from Earth's Moon. This includes lunar material collected during the course of human exploration of the Moon, and rock that has been ejected naturally from the Moon's surface and landed on Earth as lunar meteorites. Sources Moon rocks on Earth come from four sources: those collected by six United States Apollo program crewed lunar landings from 1969 to 1972; those collected by three Soviet uncrewed Luna probes in the 1970s; those collected by the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program's uncrewed probes; and rocks that were ejected naturally from the lunar surface before falling to Earth as lunar meteorites. Apollo program Six Apollo missions collected 2,200 samples of material weighing , processed into more than 110,000 individually cataloged samples. Luna program Three Luna spacecraft returned with of samples. The Soviet Union abandoned its attempts at a crewed lunar program in the 1970s, but succeeded in landing three robotic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helium-3
Helium-3 (3He see also helion) is a light, stable isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron. (In contrast, the most common isotope, helium-4, has two protons and two neutrons.) Helium-3 and hydrogen-1 are the only stable nuclides with more protons than neutrons. It was discovered in 1939. Helium-3 atoms are fermionic and become a superfluid at the temperature of 2.491 mK. Helium-3 occurs as a primordial nuclide, escaping from Earth's crust into its atmosphere and into outer space over millions of years. It is also thought to be a natural nucleogenic and cosmogenic nuclide, one produced when lithium is bombarded by natural neutrons, which can be released by spontaneous fission and by nuclear reactions with cosmic rays. Some found in the terrestrial atmosphere is a remnant of atmospheric and underwater nuclear weapons testing. Nuclear fusion using helium-3 has long been viewed as a desirable future energy source. The fusion of two of its atoms would be aneut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
