PubCard - Characteristics of the lunar samples returned by Chang'E-5 mission

(Peer-Reviewed) Characteristics of the lunar samples returned by Chang'E-5 mission

Chunlai Li 李春来 ¹, Hao Hu 胡浩 ², Meng-Fei Yang 杨孟飞 ³, Zhao-Yu Pei 裴照宇 ², Qin Zhou 周琴 ¹, Xin Ren 任鑫 ¹, Bin Liu 刘斌 ¹, Dawei Liu 刘大卫 ¹, Xingguo Zeng 曾兴国 ¹, Guangliang Zhang 张广良 ¹, Hongbo Zhang 张洪波 ¹, Jianjun Liu 刘建军 ¹, Qiong Wang 王琼 ², Xiangjin Deng 邓湘金 ³, Caijin Xiao 肖才锦 ⁴, Yonggang Yao 姚永刚 ⁴, Dingshuai Xue 薛丁帅 ⁵, Wei Zuo 左维 ¹, Yan Su 苏彦 ¹, Weibin Wen 温卫斌 ¹, Ziyuan Ouyang 欧阳自远 ¹ ⁶

¹ Key Laboratory of Lunar and Deep Space Exploration, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
中国北京中国科学院国家天文台月球与深空探测重点实验室
² Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center, Beijing 100190, China
中国北京探月与航天工程中心
³ Beijing Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering, Beijing 100094, China
中国北京北京空间飞行器总体设计部
⁴ China Institute of Atomic Energy, Beijing 102413, China
中国北京中国原子能科学研究院
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
中国北京中国科学院地质与地球物理研究所岩石圈演化国家重点实验室
⁶ Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
中国贵阳中国科学院地球科学研究院

National Science Review, 2021-10-14

https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwab188

https://academic.oup.com/nsr/advance-article/doi/10.1093/nsr/nwab188/6397035

Abstract

Forty-five years after the Apollo and Luna missions returned the lunar samples, China's Chang’E-5 (CE-5) mission collected new samples from the mid-latitude region in the northeastern Oceanus Procellarum of the Moon. Our study shows that 95% of CE-5 lunar soil is distributed in the size of 1.40–9.35 μm, while 95% of the soil by mass is distributed in the size of 4.84–432.27 μm. The bulk density, true density, and specific surface area of CE-5 soil are 1.2387 g/cm3, 3.1952 g/cm3, and 0.56 m2/g, respectively. Fragments from CE-5 regolith are classified into igneous clasts (mostly basalt), agglutinate, and glass.

A few breccias were also found. The minerals and compositions of CE-5 soils are consistent with mare basalts and can be classified as low-Ti/low-Al/low-K type with lower rare earth element (REE) contents than materials rich in potassium, rare earth element, and phosphorus (KREEP). CE-5 soils have high FeO and low Mg index, which could represent a new class of basalt.