Detect strange stones in the dark side of the Moon

The rock samples seem to be coalesced from heterogeneous debris, likely formed from a meteorite impact or from the original Moon's crust.

The Chinese expedition robot has recorded some images of light-colored rocks, sparsely arranged. The discovery was completely new and could help complete the understanding of the moon's geological history and development.

The rock samples are only slightly eroded . On the Moon, this phenomenon is caused by comet dust , combined with a sudden change in temperature between day and night. Over time, rocks tend to corrode into soil. Therefore, the extent of erosion suggests that these rock samples have been here for not too long.

Image from Yutu-2 about the surface of Von Kármán crater.(Photo: CNSA / CLEP).

Dr. Dan Moriarty of NASA said the size, shape and color of the rock samples provided clues about their origin."These rocks look quite similar in size and shape, so it is possible to guess that they are closely related," he said.

"Chang'e-4 probe landed on a crater. The material of this volcano is much darker than the rock on the Moon Plateau. It is possible that their composition is largely material above. Moon Plateau , " said Dan.

Chang'e-4 lander made a historic turning point in January 2019: For the first time, human technology made its way to the dark side of the Moon in the Von Kármán area, with a crater of about 180 km wide. about 3.6 billion years ago. Lava has spilled over here many times since its formation, so the crater is relatively flat and dark. This volcano is located in the Aitken basin - Antarctica.

One of the rock samples was discovered.(Photo: CNSA / CLEP).

Moriarty noted that higher resolution specimen images will provide more information. " If the rock pattern seems to be coalesced from many heterogeneous fragments, it is likely that it was formed from a meteorite impact. If they were tighter, they could have been the surface rock of the Face. The original moon was 'accidentally' unearthed by an impact, "he said.

Recently, China has released a huge series of data, images from the Chang'e-4 landing craft and Yutu-2 explorer robot. However, high-resolution images of these specimens have not been made public.

Regarding the age of the rock samples, Moriarty said that it is likely that they were formed after major surface resurfacing events in the Von Kármán crater."It could be 10-100 million years or 1-2 billion years ago. It's hard to say exactly," said Dr.

Yutu-2 trail moves on the Moon.(Photo: CNSA / CLEP).

Yutu-2 was navigated to analyze one of the samples using spectroscopic spectroscopy (VNIS). Despite obstacles due to the relatively small specimen, the Moon's terrain was difficult to move, the team calculated to put the rock samples into the corner of VNIS. So far, Yutu-2 has been moving 357m since landing in Von Kármán crater.

January 31 marks a 14-day timeline for the Chang'e-4 and Yutu-2 landers to conduct a half-moon mission. Yutu-2 will then be directed to the northwest, eventually to the southwest to reach the designated target.

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