In late 2020, a Chinese space capsule delivered fresh moon samples to Earth for the first time in about four decades, and these precious lunar …
In late 2020, a Chinese space capsule delivered fresh moon samples to Earth for the first time in about four decades, and these precious lunar rocks just revealed a new detail about our planet’s glowing companion: Its volcanoes were alive and active considerably longer than scientists thought. « All our experience tells us that the moon should be cold and dead 2 billion years ago. But it is not, and the question is, ‘Why?' » said Alexander Nemchin, a professor of Geology at Australia’s Curtin University and author of the analysis published Thursday in the journal Science. Alongside an expansive and international team of researchers, Nemchin discovered that some of the newly transported moon rocks contain lunar fragments from later days of the white orb’s timeline. Dated about two eons ago, these fragments are relatively young. But here’s the kicker: Those same pieces are also remnants of a volcanic eruption. Connecting the dots, the team members realized they were looking at solid confirmation that the lunar surface was alive pretty late in the game. « We need to dig deeper with this, » Nemchin remarked. « We are highlighting that our current views need readjustment — further research will tell how dramatic this readjustment should be. » The saga began last year in December, when China’s Chang’e 5 mission sent a spacecraft to scrape the surface of the moon and collect a variety of rock and dust samples for Earth-based analysis. It returned with about 4 pounds (2 kilograms) of extraterrestrial material.
