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Lunar regolith sample collected by China's Chang'e 5 mission displayed at Airshow China 2021. On 16 December 2020, China's Chang'e 5 mission returned to Earth with about 2 kilograms of rock and dirt it picked up from the Moon. It is the first lunar regolith sample to return to Earth since 1976.
The lunar soil is composed of a blend of silica and iron-containing compounds that may be fused into a glass-like solid using microwave radiation. [92] [93] The European Space Agency working in 2013 with an independent architectural firm, tested a 3D-printed structure that could be constructed of lunar regolith for use as a Moon base.
Geological studies of the Moon are based on a combination of Earth-based telescope observations, measurements from orbiting spacecraft, lunar samples, and geophysical data. . Six locations were sampled directly during the crewed Apollo program landings from 1969 to 1972, which returned 382 kilograms (842 lb) of lunar rock and lunar soil to Earth [8] In addition, three robotic Soviet Luna ...
Luckily, the lunar regolith is full of metal oxides. But while the science of extracting oxygen from metal oxides, for example, is well understood on Earth, doing this on the moon is much harder.
The average chemical composition of regolith might be estimated from the relative concentration of elements in lunar soil. The physical and optical properties of lunar regolith are altered through a process known as space weathering , which darkens the regolith over time, causing crater rays to fade and disappear.
Lunar IceCube is a 6U (six unit) CubeSat that was to estimate amount and composition of lunar ice, using an infrared imaging spectrometer developed by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center. [71] The spacecraft separated from Artemis 1 successfully on November 17, 2022, but failed to communicate shortly thereafter [ 72 ] and is presumed lost.
NASA, the primary customer for the lunar mission, is poised to deploy water-hunting technology that will drill beneath the moon's surface and extract lunar soil – known as regolith – for testing.
The Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with Rapidity (LISTER) is designed to measure heat flow from the interior of the Moon. The probe will attempt to drill 2.13 to 3.05 meters (7 to 10 ft) into the lunar regolith to investigate the Moon's thermal properties at different depths.