Sept.10 (EIRNS)—” Infinite Curiosity is Behind Scientific Exploration,” is the conclusion drawn from a series of interviews done in yesterday’s issue of China Youth Daily with some leading members of the 22-member team that discovered the new mineral on the Moon. The qualities required to do the kind of concentrated, long-term research that this project demanded was described by team members themselves as “diligence, unity, attentiveness, and focus.”
The size of the sample is less than 10 microns.To determine the new mineral, the research team used a scanning electron microscope which repeatedly confirms and accurately locates the minerals to be separated out and cuts it out of the sample.The high-energy focused ion beam cuts obliquely from the surrounding material. Then a tungsten needle thinner than a human hair is inserted. After the tungsten needle is shaped by a focused ion beam, it is welded to the separated target mineral with platinum vapor. The collected target mineral is then taken out from the instrument cabin and placed in a special sample for storage,
The “capsule” is then taken to the laboratory where crystal structure analysis is carried out to determine its nature.. The team members had already proven their mettle before working with the Chang’e-5 samples, having participated in or led in the last three years in the discovery of five new Earth minerals.
Under discussion led by lunar research team leader Li Ziying of the Earth Research Institute, it was decided that the work would focus on lunar nuclear fission and fusion elements as the main direction for the research. The scientists could not accomplish all of the goals they had hoped for, but they will have additional opportunities to gather more samples from different regions of the Moon through upcoming missions.
