(ORDO NEWS) — Experts from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that the eruption of molten rock on the surface of the Moon took 1 billion years longer than previously thought. This was reported on Sunday by the China Daily newspaper.
According to her, Chinese scientists came to this conclusion during the analysis of samples of lunar soil delivered to Earth by the Chang’e-5 unmanned spacecraft.
They found that volcanic activity on the Moon occurred relatively recently – 2 billion, and not 3 billion years ago, as previously thought.
In particular, it turned out that Chinese samples contain much more calcium oxide and titanium dioxide than the soil that was collected during the US Apollo mission.
“Our study will help planetary scientists better understand the processes of change in lunar magma and its temperature,” said Chen Yi, a member of the lunar soil research team.
Chang’e-5 was launched to the Moon on November 24, 2020 from the Wenchang Space Center in Hainan.
After 23 days, he returned to Earth, having collected about 2 kg of lunar rock. Chinese experts carefully studied the samples and obtained valuable data, which, in particular, will be used in preparation for the implementation of the project to build a research base on the natural satellite of our planet.
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