This is the 1st new mineral learned on the moon by China and the sixth by humanity. The new discovery tends to make China the 3rd nation in the world to have uncovered a new mineral on the moon, explained Dong Baotong, deputy director of CAEA, soon after the United States and Russia. The new mineral, which was named Changesite- (Y), is a form of transparent and colorless columnar crystal. It was found out by an investigation of lunar basalt particles by a research group at the Beijing Uranium Geology Investigate Institute, a subsidiary of the China National Nuclear Company.
Changesite- (Y) has already been formally authorized as a new mineral by the Fee on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification of the International Mineralogical Association, Xinhua studies.
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