China’s Rover Uncovers Moon’s Complex Layers
Marco Foronda | | Mar 13, 2015 08:04 AM EDT |
(Photo : Reuters) The Yutu or "Jade Rabbit" lunar rover on the Moon.
China's lunar rover has mapped only 114 meters of the Moon's surface, revealing a more active and complex geological history than previously believed, according to Science Mag's report released Thursday.
Using the Lunar Penetrating Radar (LPR) detection technology and cameras, scientists found evidence the Moon has nine subsurface layers. These distinct layers have actively formed since 3.3 billion years ago, according to the report.
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The Yutu lunar rover examined the ground and craters on the Sea of Rains site, including an odd rock called "Loong." From the data gathered, scientists suggested the later part of the Moon's volcanic history was highlighted by more volcanic eruptions than previously thought.
Yutu also discovered the volcanic plain consists of explosive pyroclastic rocks besides basaltic lavas, said Long Xiao of China University of Geosciences.
This discovery led them to conclude the site's composition was different from the sites studied by Soviet Union's Luna program and NASA's Apollo missions.
These findings were probably among the last discoveries of China's first Moon rover as it encountered a glitch and died in January 2014, reports said.
"No more data will come," Xiao confirmed.
The team has yet to release data gathered by the Active Particle-Induced X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and Visible Near-Infrared Spectrometer (NIS), the other two of the three main instruments carried by Yutu.
The Yutu lunar rover landed on December 14, 2013 on the site near a 250 meter wide crater, called C1, which was formed between 27 million to 80 million years ago after a cosmic impact.
It zigzagged on the lunar surface, covering a total distance of 114 meters before it broke down a month after it arrived on the Moon.
Yutu is part of China's Chang'e 3 lunar mission whose soft touchdown on the moon's surface was the first since the Luna 24 program in 1976.
Tagslunar rover, moon, Chang'e-3, Long Xiao
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