Chinese-Owned Robot Moon Reveals Surprising Findings, Turns Out The Moon Dust Is 12 Meters Thick

Yutu Robot
The Yutu 2 robot is investigating a small crater on the Moon

Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing analyzed data collected by the Chinese Yutu-2 robot radar in the Arctic-Aitken basin area, the largest and oldest crater on the Moon.

The Chinese robot Yutu-2 on the Moon made a surprising discovery.

Apparently, fine dust on the far side of the Moon can reach a thickness of 12 meters, thick enough to make a mountain.

The Yutu-2 robot came to the Moon in January 2012 on a Chang'e 4 ride.

Since separating from Chang'e 4, Yutu-2 has been exploring the Arctic-Arctic basin for a year.

After continuously sending photos and videos of the surface of the far side of the Moon, Yutu-2 is now collecting data to a depth of 40 meters below the surface of the Moon using high-frequency radar.

At the depth of the first 12 meters, Yutu-2 only found fine dust.

Yan Su from the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology who participated in analyzing the data said that this dust might come from collisions of small meteorites and exposure to solar radiation which slowly destroyed the outer soil of the Moon.

Then, at a depth of 12 to 24 meters below the surface of the Moon, Yutu-2 discovered the presence of large rocks that might be remnants of asteroid and meteorite collisions.

Below that, there are layers of fine soil and rough soil.

Su explained that the rough layers might be the remains of asteroid and meteorite collisions, while the fine layers might form slowly by themselves without the need for collisions.

Although surprising, Su also said that the layer at the Yutu-2 exploration site is not as complex as the Chang'e 4 landing site.

The reason is, at the Chang'e 4 landing site, a thick layer of lava was buried beneath the surface.

This shows the existence of volcanic events in the past.

"The structure beneath the surface of the Chang'e 4 landing site is more complex and shows a completely different geological context," he said, as quoted by Kompas.com.

Meanwhile, commenting on the findings that have been published in the journal Science Advances.

Senior researcher at the Lunar and Planetary Institute who was not involved in the David Kring study admitted that he was quite surprised.

"That's a lot of regolith (any layer that covers solid rock). You have to think about it," he said.

This article has been aired on Kompas.com with the title "Surprising Findings of the Chinese Moon Robot, 12 Meters Thick Moon Dust".