China's Pearl Rabbit explorer ship ended the 60-year question on the Moon

The Yutu self-propelled car (Jade Rabbit), has made a breakthrough discovery when proving what scientists have predicted for decades, that the Moon has an Earth-like coating.

Scientists have long suspected that the Moon has a mantle under its crust, like the Earth. But in the past 60 years, Moon missions, including American Apollo missions, have been unable to find evidence to prove this, but only clues.

"Now we have that," said Professor Li Chunlai, deputy director of the China National Astronomical Observatory. He is also the leader of the Hang Nga 4 mission, bringing the self-propelled Rabbit Ngoc to the Moon.

The findings were published in the scientific journal Nature on May 16, answering some basic questions about the moon, its geological structure and history.

Yutu self-propelled vehicles (Jade Rabbits) are performing tasks on the surface of the Moon.(Photo: Xinhua).

In the first mission on January 3, Ngoc Ngoc discovered olivine ore in surface rock samples collected near where it landed. Olivine is a green crystalline mineral commonly found very deep underground - at the upper mantle layer of the Earth.

Further analysis shows that olivine does not originate from that location, but comes from a deep pit that has a radius of 72km next to the area.

The Moon's dark regions have more craters than bright areas facing the Earth, and a meteorite falling into the Moon is more likely to penetrate the coating, bringing matter to the surface.

Mr. Li said the landing zone of the Yutu car used to be a rocky place, but cosmic rays and the solar wind were weathered and turned rocks into dust.

"What we found is the first direct evidence of matter from deep beneath the Moon's crust, although the depth has not yet been determined," he said.

Scientists believe that the Moon was once covered by molten rock oceans. Lighter substances float to the surface and form a shell while heavier matter sinks to form a coating and core. The findings of the Ngoc Rabbit car are supporting that theory.

China was the first country to bring the spacecraft to the dark side of the Moon, and they also planned to send a larger spacecraft up there later this year to bring back the specimens.

The first Chinese astronauts will land on the Moon between 2025 and 2030, according to Beijing's latest schedule.

The American Apollo ship also brought back many samples of rock, one of which contained olivine, but scientists suspected that they might come from a volcanic eruption.

China, the United States and a number of other countries all announced plans to launch the Moon's resource exploitation within the next decade or two.

The researchers said the Jade Rabbit's discovery could help scientists draw a more accurate map of these resources, including volume and mineral allocation.

US President Donald Trump has increased the budget for NASA by $ 1.6 billion for the agency to bring Americans back to the Moon in 2024.

Li said Chinese scientists are willing to work with US colleagues, but Washington has prevented all such collaborations.

"Our door is still open," he said.

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