2023-12-13 04:41:15
Updated Wednesday, December 13, 2023 – 03:41
The lunar soil maturity index is a parameter that measures the degree of soil exposure to space conditions, such as micrometeorite bombardment and solar wind.
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The lunar samples brought to Earth by the Chinese mission Chang’e-5 They are younger than those obtained by previous American and Soviet missions, according to a study in which experts from China and the United States have participated.
The study, published in the scientific journal Icarus, analyzed the maturity index of lunar soil collected by Chang’e-5 using magnetic techniques, which makes it possible to understand the space weathering processes that occur on the surface of our satellite, the Xinhua agency reported in the last few hours.
The maturity index of the lunar soil is a parameter that measures the degree of exposure of the soil to the conditions of space, such as micrometeorite bombardment and the solar wind.
Researchers from China University of Geosciences in Wuhan, Brown University and the University of Hawaii used magnetic techniques to measure the maturity index of Chang’e-5’s lunar soil and found that its Is/FeO value is between 4 and 20, one of the lowest values obtained so far, which indicates that it is one of the youngest soils on the Moon.
The Is/FeO value is calculated from the intensity of a magnetic signal produced by the iron in the lunar soil.
Iron is magnetized by the action of the solar wind and micrometeorites, and the longer the lunar soil is exposed, the stronger the magnetic signal.
“This indicates that the lunar soil in the Chang’e-5 mission sampling area was exposed to the space environment for a relatively short time after its formation,” said Professor Xiao Long of the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan. .
The Chang’e 5 probe returned to Earth in December 2020 with almost two kilograms of lunar samples, which made China the third country to collect samples from our satellite after the United States and the former Soviet Union.
The program Chang’e (named after a goddess who, according to Chinese legends, lives on the Moon) began with the launch of a first probe in 2007.
In recent years, Beijing has invested heavily in its space program and has achieved milestones such as the successful landing of a probe on the far side of the Moon in January 2019, an achievement that no country had achieved to date.
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