Chinese scientists reveal analysis of weird substance found on the moon's far side by Yutu 2 rover
By Hanneke Weitering 33 minutes ago
Surprise, it's made of rock.
Chinese scientists have published an analysis of a curious substance on the moon which generated widespread interest following its discovery by the Yutu 2 rover last year.
The discovery was made by a Yutu 2 drive team member in July 2019, during lunar day 8 of the rover's mission, which is part of China's Chang'e 4 mission to explore the far side of the moon. A report by Our Space, a Chinese-language science-outreach publication, revealed the discovery on Aug. 17 and described the substance using the term "胶状物" ("jiao zhuang wu" ), which can be translated as "gel-like."
This description, along with the initial absence of images, sparked wide interest as well as speculation among lunar scientists.
However the substance is, as expected by scientists, made up of rock. In their article in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Gou Sheng and colleagues analyzed data from Yutu 2's panoramic and hazard avoidance cameras, and the rover's Visible and Near-Infrared Spectrometer (VNIS) instrument.
They used a procedure called spectral unmixing to break down the measured spectra from VNIS to determine the likely composition and abundance of the material.
More:
https://www.space.com/moon-far-side-yutu-2-rover-weird-substance-analysis.html
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