Chinese lunar samples present diversity of glassy materials

May 12. (EUROPE PRESS) –

Chinese scientists have revealed glass particles with a variety of shapes in lunar samples returned by the Chang’e-5 mission, including blood cells, ellipsoids, dumbbells, and tears.

In addition, adhered glass with spatter-, blob-, and other-like distribution patterns, and amorphous edges induced by vapor deposition and irradiation damage, respectively, were also discovered, According to the Institute of Physics (IOP) under the direction of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“These impact-induced glassy materials recorded multi-scale impact events on the lunar surface, which was of great importance for understanding the formation and evolution of the lunar soil,” Dr. Zhao Rui of the IOP told Science and Technology Daily. , quoted by Xinhua.

The abundant micro-impact products, such as glass droplets and micrometer- and nanometer-scale craters, showed that lunar regolith changed significantly with frequent bombardment by micrometeorites.

Irradiated amorphous edges produced by the solar wind and widespread outgassing vesicles in adhered glass indicated the role of the solar wind in modifying the lunar regolith at the mid-high latitude of the Moonthe researchers said in their study.

The researchers also identified indigenous glass fibers for the first time in the lunar samples. The ultra-long indigenous glass fibers indicated a relatively soft impact environment at the Chang’e-5 landing site.

Shen Laiquan, a research associate at the IOP, said these natural glass fibers demonstrated the feasibility of using lunar soil to process and produce glass building materials on the lunar surface. It will support the future construction of a lunar base, Shen added.

These findings suggest that the soft, small-scale impacts played a critical role in reshaping the lunar surface at the Chang’e-5 landing site, and could affect regolith evolution, water distributions and space weathering of the lunar surface, according to the study.

The findings appeared in the journal National Science Review.