WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THIS MINERAL

China Plans Three Moon-Mining Missions After Finding a Potential New Source of Energy

Tim Newcomb Mon, September 12, 2022

Photo credit: VCG - Getty Images

A 2020 mission brought back minerals to China, leading to the discovery of a phosphate mineral now named Changesite-(Y).


Earth-found phosphate helps plants grow, but the moon mineral’s columnar crystal properties aren’t yet known.


China’s three new missions to the moon are planned over the next 10 years.

China’s so excited about a new mineral it found on the moon that it’s not wasting any time. The country's National Space Administration plans to deploy three moon orbiters in the next 10 years to potentially mine more of this lunar mineral

China’s Chang’e-5 mission in 2020 brought back what the country’s scientists have announced as a new phosphate mineral in columnar crystal, dubbed Changesite-(Y). The mineral contains helium-3, which offers a potential future energy source. It appears China wants to explore this connection further, both with the announcement of three new orbital trips and the Bloomberg report that China hopes to build a moon-based international research station.

Discovering new minerals from the moon isn’t unheard of, but it isn’t common. The United States and Russia (as the Soviet Union) combined have discovered five novel minerals, but China’s addition to the group is the most recent. Separated from rock and soil samples and then analyzed at the Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology, the Changesite-(Y) is unlike anything found on Earth.

The phosphate, which on Earth is key for plant growth, has columnar crystal formations with unknown properties. Finding phosphate on the moon, where the mineral prospers, was not surprising, but the columnar crystal form was new to scientists. The discovery of this form of phosphate could have ramifications for future moon-based farming. The mineral also contains helium-3, which has previously been identified as a possible future energy source, an intriguing prospect for scientists.

China is upping its moon-mining efforts; the next mission, the Chang’e-7, will reportedly focus on the search for water near the moon’s South Pole. It seems the search for more minerals could happen alongside the effort to discover the benefits of Changesite-(Y).

In recent decades, China’s space-related plans have ramped up exponentially. Along with the Chang’e-5 mission that returned to China in late 2020, the nation has built a space station and also landed its rover Zhurong on Mars in 2021.

These space efforts are not happening in conjunction with the United States but constitute another space race for the Americans. The two countries have sparred verbally over their national intentions, and the recent, seemingly successful efforts by the Chinese puts NASA’s upcoming but delayed Artemis missions in a more direct spotlight.

China plans three missions to the Moon after discovering a new lunar mineral that may be a future energy source


Jyoti Mann Sun, September 11, 2022

A full moon rises over Beijing in May.Getty Images

China aims to launch three moon missions over the next decade as part of its Chang'e lunar program.


China's National Space Administration won approval for the missions after it found a new mineral.



The mineral, Changesite-(Y), could be a future source of energy and was found in lunar samples.

China is aiming to launch three unmanned missions to the moon after discovering a new lunar mineral that could be an energy source in the future.

The space race between China and the US is accelerating after Beijing's National Space Administration got the go-ahead to launch three orbiters to the moon over the next 10 years, it announced on Saturday. The news was first reported by Bloomberg.

It comes a day after China became the third country to discover a new lunar mineral, which it called Changesite-(Y), according to Chinese state-controlled newspaper the Global Times.

China's Chang'e-5 mission retrieved samples from the moon in 2020 and it has been described by Global Times as a "phosphate mineral in columnar crystal" found in lunar rock particles. The mineral contains helium-3, which could be a future source of energy.

The discovery may put more pressure on the US to ramp up its efforts after its Artemis I moon mission was postponed for a second time.

Moon mining could be the next source of tension between the countries as NASA is also probing the moon's south pole where China plans to build a research station in conjunction with Russia.

China has accelerated its efforts in space exploration of late by building a space station, launching a number of missions to collect moon samples and putting a rover called Zhurong on Mars earlier this year to rival NASA.

The US remains the only country to put astronauts on the moon, with the last landing almost 50 years ago in the Apollo 17 mission, according to NASA's website.

The US Apollo 11 mission was the first to bring samples from the moon back to Earth in July 1969, with about 49 pounds (22 kilograms) of material from the moon's surface.

China's National Space Administration was contacted for comment.