Historic Chinese discovery: Rare meteorite fragments containing water found on the far side of the moon
Chinese researchers have discovered particles of the rare carbonaceous chondrite (CI) meteorite containing water in samples returned from the far side of the Moon by the Chang’e 6 mission, a finding that provides the first direct evidence of water-rich asteroids colliding with the Moon early in the history of the solar system.
After examining more than 5,000 samples, the research team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences identified seven olivine fragments whose chemical and isotopic compositions match those of CI chondrites.
These types of meteorites are very fragile and wet, and usually disintegrate upon entering the Earth’s atmosphere; for this reason, less than one percent of meteorites found on Earth are of this type.
This discovery shows that water-bearing asteroids can leave permanent traces on the lunar surface and that they impacted it billions of years ago. The results of this research were published in the prestigious journal PNAS.
