China’s Chang’E-5 robotic Moon mission has discovered more than water on the lunar surface. Scientists have confirmed that it discovers a new mineral, which has a transparent crystal and its name has Changesite-(Y). We use this mineral as a potential fusion fuel.
China National Space Administration and the China Atomic Energy authority in a joint announcement say that last week China celebrated its first new mineral discovered on the Moon. This mineral is the sixth ever by mankind. According to Chinese news agency Xinhua, “Changesite-(Y) is a kind of colorless transparent columnar crystal and It was discovered from an analysis of lunar basalt particles by a research team from the Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology, a subsidiary of the China National Nuclear Corporation.”
This sample is analyzed and confirmed by the International Mineralogical Association as a new mineral. The weight of this sample is just 1,731 grams and it was brought back by the Chang’E 5 mission in 2020.
