New Lunar Mineral Discovered in Returned Chang’e 5 Samples
Chinese scientists have discovered a new mineral in samples returned from the Moon by the Chang’e 5 mission. The Chang’e 5 mission was launched on November 24, 2020, and returned […]
Tag Archives: moon
Noble Gases Reveal the Moon Inherited Earth Mantle Composition During Its Formation by Giant Impact
The formation of Earth’s Moon by the impact of a Mars-sized body with the Earth is widely accepted. While the high temperatures predicted by models of this process might be […]
Candidate Landing Regions for Artemis III Target Lunar Ice
NASA recently announced 13 candidate landing regions for Artemis III, which will be the first mission to send humans to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. The candidate regions, […]
Lunar Bombardment History Much More “Impactful” than Previously Estimated
The Moon is a focal point of planetary research given its relative ease of access and extensively cratered surface. The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission revealed that the […]
Scientists Grow the First Plants in Lunar “Soil”
In a small lab-grown garden, the first seeds planted in lunar soil have sprouted. A team of researchers led by Anna-Lisa Paul at the University of Florida developed these experiments […]
Updated Lunar Cratering Chronology Using Age Data from Chang’e 5 Returned Samples
How do we date the surface of the Moon? Lunar chronology models are created by combining two methods: crater counting and radiometric age dating. Crater counting is a widely used […]
Rare Fragment of Stony Asteroid Found in Lunar Soil
The lunar surface is covered by a layer of impact-generated regolith (soil). Other than the occasional lava flow, meteorite impact (impact gardening) is the main source of modification to the […]
Apollo Sample Unveiled After 50 Years
Ever since it was collected in December of 1972, Apollo sample 73001 has been sealed in an evacuated container and stored in the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility at NASA’s Johnson […]
Chinese Lander Makes First In-Situ Detection of Water on the Surface of the Moon
China’s Chang’E-5 lunar lander has made the first in-situ detection of water on the surface of the Moon, providing crucial context for the samples it returned to Earth. This mission […]
Chang’e-5 Samples Reveal Age of Young Lunar Volcanism
The first lunar samples returned in over 40 years suggest that volcanism on the Moon continued for much longer than previously thought. In December 2020, China’s Chang’e-5 mission returned samples […]
The Temporal Relationship Between the Lunar Magma Ocean and Mg-Suite Rocks
The magma ocean hypothesis is a leading explanation for how the Moon differentiated from its innermost mantle layers to its outermost crustal layer. Igneous samples returned from the surface of […]
A Window Into the Interior of the Moon at South Pole-Aitken Basin
Basins created by giant impacts can excavate material from deep within a planetary body and expose its underlying crustal and mantle stratigraphy. The South Pole-Aitken basin (SPA) is the largest […]
The Role of Impacts in Building Biomolecules
Inorganic methods for synthesizing important life-forming molecules, such as amino acids, have been active fields of study for decades. Different “recipes” involve interactions between inorganic molecules (e.g., CH4, NH3, H2, […]
The Most Complete Map of the Moon
Future exploration of the Moon requires precise knowledge of the distribution of rock types on the lunar surface. A recent map released by the United States Geological Survey separates the […]
Evolution of the Lunar Crust as told by Feldspathic Meteorites
The lunar magma ocean (LMO) hypothesis describes the early differentiation and resulting compositional structure of the Moon’s interior, including the formation of a primary flotation crust consisting of anorthositic rocks. […]
Community Announcement: Commercial Lunar Payload Services Virtual Discussion on December 4
Dear Lunar Community, We would like to host a two-hour virtual discussion session on Wednesday, December 4 from 2–4 p.m. EST in order to share our thoughts on how we […]
International Observe the Moon Night is October 5
International Observe the Moon Night is a worldwide celebration of lunar science and exploration held annually since 2010. One day each year, everyone on Earth is invited to observe and […]
Mass Concentrations Under South Polar Basin Yield Clues About Lunar History
The South Pole-Aitken (SP-A) basin is the largest impact feature on the Moon, 2500 kilometers in diameter and 13 kilometers deep. Observations made by NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory […]
Postdoc Opportunity in Lunar Regolith Processes at Purdue University
The Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science at Purdue University has an opening for a postdoctoral researcher to lead a joint code development, modeling, and remote sensing project focused […]
The Moon’s Mantle Revealed by the Chang’e 4 Rover
The 2,500-kilometer-diameter South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin is the largest impact structure on the Moon. Such very large impact craters can potentially penetrate through the crust and sample the underlying lunar […]