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Chinese samples shed light on Moon history

2021-10-19T11:40:38.917Z


Moon samples brought to Earth last year by China, after an unprecedented space mission in four decades, show that the star has ...


Moon samples brought back to Earth last year by China, after an unprecedented space mission in four decades, show that the star has experienced longer volcanic activity than scientists thought, according to a study unveiled Tuesday. China sent the Chang'e 5 probe into space last year, whose mission was to bring rocks from its satellite back to the blue planet. It was also intended to refine the technologies needed to send Chinese astronauts to the Moon by 2030. Basalt - a form of cooled lava - dating from around two billion years has been identified in particular on the samples collected, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said.

Read alsoThe oldest rock on Earth was discovered ... on the Moon

The analyzes "

reveal that the Moon was still evolving

" at this time, she said at a press conference on Tuesday. "

These results are extremely exciting because they allow us to understand [...] the formation and evolution of the Moon over time

", commented in a video message Audrey Bouvier, professor of planetology at the University of Bayreuth ( Germany). Until now, it was commonly believed that volcanic activity on the Moon dates back 2.8 billion years. But scientists lacked knowledge about the following periods in the history of the lunar star. "

How could the Moon maintain volcanic activity for so long?"

One of the scientists involved, Li Xianhua, asked the press.

The Moon being small, the heat should have dissipated quickly.

At least, that's what we thought,

”he noted.

Read alsoA giant cave discovered on the moon

These findings were published Tuesday in Nature, the leading scientific journal.

China became the third country last year to bring back moon samples, after the United States and the former USSR in the 1960s and 1970s.

The last attempt was Soviet, with the uninhabited Luna 24 mission carried out successfully in 1976. The Chinese module sent to the moon had deployed the national flag there last year.

And the mission had marked a new stage in Beijing's space program: China had succeeded for the first time in making a machine take off from an extraterrestrial body.

Already in 2019, the country struck a blow by landing an exploration module on the far side of the Moon, which was a world first.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-10-19

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