A new kind of rock has been discovered on the moon by Chinese scientists. A remote-controlled Chinese lunar lander, launched back in 2013, has explored the moon's mare lava flows and identified mineral composition uniquely different from what was collected by previous astronauts.

China's unmanned lunar mission Chang'e-3 let its rover called Yutu or "Jade Rabbit" autonomously navigate a comparatively young lava flow. It was able to gather a mineralogical mystery on the moon, a basalt with "unique compositional characteristics."

Like Us on Facebook

Reported in Nature Communications, the research is expected to enhance readings from satellite instruments, and to find more data on the origins of the moon.

The Yutu rover's discovery is a welcome surprise for astonomists and geological scientists. The basalts that were sampled by previous astronaut expeditions are different.

An Amercan member of the team, Bradley Joliff of the Washington University of St Louis says, "The diversity tells us that the Moon's upper mantle is much less uniform in composition than Earth's. And correlating chemistry with age, we can see how the moon's volcanism changed over time."

Professor Joliff said. "The variable titanium distribution on the lunar surface suggests that the Moon's interior was not homogenised," He also said "We're still trying to figure out how this happened."

This find definitely cements China's growing contribution to space exploration.

TagsChinese Lunar Lander, Chinese Scientist, New Types Of rock In The Moon, Yutu Rover, Chang'e-3