The Chinese Lunar probe Chang’e-5 has returned to Earth from the far side of the moon and has landed in the Siziwang Banner grassland of the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia in China.
The mission was launched on 23 November 2020. The primary mission of the lunar probe was to land in the Mons Rukmer region Oceanus Procellarum, to operate for 1 lunar day which amounts to 2 weeks on Earth, and to return with samples of lunar regolith obtained from the Moon’s surface from roughly 2 meters deep.
After the analysis of the samples that the probe got back from the Moon, Chinese scientists have identified traces of Graphene in the lunar samples. The finding could prove a turning point as it challenges the existing theories about the origins of the Moon and would open up new space for scientific exploration.
For those who don’t know, graphene is a form of graphite in which the molecular structure consists of atoms arranged in a single layer in a hexagonal arrangement. The element is known for its strength, electric conductivity, and flexibility.
Its presence in the lunar soil indicates that there is further scope to explore the moon’s history and the materials within its core. The presence of graphene also suggests that there might be additional processes involved that contributed to the moon’s formation. Traditionally the theories suggest that the moon was formed from debris resulting from a collision between Earth and Mars-sized body.
In December 2020, the Chang’e-5 mission brought back a total of 1,731 grams of lunar samples. The samples that have been analyzed belong particularly to an area that is younger in comparison to the surface around it and is replete with volcanic rocks marking the first time such materials have been collected. They also represent the first extraterrestrial celestial bodies’ samples retrieved by Chinese scientists and returned to Earth.
Dr Li Chunlai, a senior scientist at the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, expressed excitement over the discovery. “The presence of graphene in lunar soil suggests that there might be more complex carbon chemistry occurring on the moon than we previously thought,” he said.
Professor Wang Chuanlin from Peking University highlighted the significance of this finding, saying, “This discovery challenges the prevailing theories of the moon’s formation and prompts us to re-evaluate the processes that occurred in the early solar system”.
The scientists have acknowledged the fact that multiple meteors crash landing on the moon’s surface might have contributed to the formation of graphitic carbon on the moon, this was suggested by NASA researchers who found graphite deposits on Apollo 17 mission samples in 2020. However, the Chinese team has affirmed that their study is the first to confirm the presence of natural graphene on the surface of the moon.
The Chang’e-5 mission represents itself as a major achievement in China’s lunar exploration efforts, being the first mission to return with lunar samples since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 mission in 1976. Its success has opened doors for future lunar exploration missions.
As scientists probe further into the findings from the far side of the moon, more new explorations and theories await our understanding which will fine-tune our knowledge of the origins of the moon and also further our understanding of the universe.
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