China's Chang'e-4 lunar rover has discovered an unusually colored, "gel-like" substance during its exploration activities on the far side of the moon.
The mission's rover, Yutu-2, stumbled on that surprise during lunar day 8. The discovery prompted scientists on the mission to postpone other driving plans for the rover, and instead focus its instruments on trying to figure out what the strange material is.
[...] So far, mission scientists haven't offered any indication as to the nature of the colored substance and have said only that it is "gel-like" and has an "unusual color." One possible explanation, outside researchers suggested, is that the substance is melt glass created from meteorites striking the surface of the moon.
Yutu-2's discovery isn't scientists' first lunar surprise, however. Apollo 17 astronaut and geologist Harrison Schmitt discovered orange-colored soil near the mission's Taurus-Littrow landing site in 1972, prompting excitement from both Schmitt and his moonwalk colleague, Gene Cernan. Lunar geologists eventually concluded that the orange soil was created during an explosive volcanic eruption 3.64 billion years ago.
(Score: 5, Funny) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Monday September 02 2019, @02:59PM (4 children)
Oh Shit. [fandom.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 02 2019, @03:03PM (3 children)
Probably just some frozen xenomorph jizz.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday September 02 2019, @03:13PM (2 children)
Is Chang'e-4 receptive?
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 02 2019, @04:07PM
A goddess is receptive if and when she wants to be.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday September 02 2019, @07:51PM
Well, depending on the tones "Chang-e" could mean "Long hungry," so...possibly?
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by black6host on Monday September 02 2019, @02:59PM (5 children)
I bet it's frozen poop!
https://www.space.com/weird-stuff-apollo-astronauts-left-moon.html [space.com]
Yeah, I know, wrong part of the moon... Maybe a moondog picked up a bag :)
(Score: 4, Interesting) by RS3 on Monday September 02 2019, @03:48PM (4 children)
Maybe it got ejected from an Apollo capsule while orbiting the moon?
(Score: 2) by Common Joe on Thursday September 05 2019, @03:45AM (3 children)
That wouldn't be gel like. The low pressure and temperatures outside the range of 0 - 100 degrees C would ensure any water would have boiled away. That would be very much solid. I'm very curious what would be so gel like in these conditions.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday September 05 2019, @04:35AM (2 children)
My post was supposed to be funny- something struck me as sarcastically funny that the Chinese would go to all the trouble to send a rover to the "dark side" of the moon, only to find US astronaut poop from 50 years ago.
But I'm honored that some considered it to have merit.
I like the suggestion FTFA that it could be molten and re-solidified rock / silicon dioxide.
(Score: 2) by Common Joe on Thursday September 05 2019, @08:23AM (1 child)
I was replying to you, black6host, and the people who marked your comment as interesting. Sometimes I have trouble understanding humor and sarcasm, but I think we all got a little muddled this time.
To be honest, I wonder how the Chinese know that it is "gel" which implies it is not fully solid. They can't exactly poke it with a finger and I don't think they have a solid-liquid detection device on there. On the dark side of the moon in extremely low pressure, pretty much everything should be solid, so this "news" certainly has me curious as to how they determined this. I know I can't be the only one.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday September 05 2019, @01:01PM
I try to not use sarcasm, unless it's obvious. Oops, well, obvious to me! I get it wrong, both ways, too. I don't have the verbal skills that some people do. Hopefully this is good practice, not reinforcing bad habits. :0
I don't know if the Chinese released pics yet, but when I read the article, I got a mental picture of a shiny somewhat uneven puddle, almost like glass poured out onto sand.
I don't know much about their rover, but maybe it has a poking stick (and that's not sarcasm, just a silly description of a probe).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 02 2019, @03:05PM
Probably moon rock/dust had too much freedom of movement so chang’e spaka’d over the recalcitrant.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Snospar on Monday September 02 2019, @03:44PM
Huge thanks to all the Soylent volunteers without whom this community (and this post) would not be possible.
(Score: 5, Funny) by ilPapa on Monday September 02 2019, @03:46PM (5 children)
It's definitely a secret Nazi base.
But now they're all wearing red baseball caps for some reason.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 02 2019, @04:01PM (4 children)
Nazi fashion is not what it used to be, that is for sure. Where did all the sexy Nazi BDSM babes go? Too many cheeseburgers and too much deep fried butter! Another reason we cannot have white supremacy, alas.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 02 2019, @06:52PM
The concept of White Supremacy is Jewish propaganda and is a projection of their own admitted goals.
(Score: 4, Touché) by Phoenix666 on Monday September 02 2019, @07:53PM (2 children)
To a hospital in Siegburg. Her name is Helga and she's not so sexy when she's kicking you in the ribs as you lay very drunk next to two wasted Turks on the first eve of Karnival. Or so a friend told me...
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by ilPapa on Tuesday September 03 2019, @12:35AM (1 child)
She sounds hot. Did you happen to get her Instagram account?
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday September 03 2019, @12:54PM
This was pre-email. But fly to Siegburg for Karnival, get really drunk and pass out in front of the krankenwagen and you're sure to wind up in Helga's ward. 30 years on she should be even hotter. :-)
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 02 2019, @04:18PM
During the apollo missions the astronauts noticed a glassy glazing in the pits of many craters. The estimated it could be 30k years old at most and most likely due to the sun becoming extremely hot for a couple seconds and melting the lunar surface.
Until now we only had data from the near side (where apollo always landed), if this is the same stuff that means the micronoava hss happened at least twice in the last 30k years , suggesting a periodic phenomenon with frequency more often than every 15k years.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Freeman on Monday September 02 2019, @04:22PM (3 children)
As in, this kind of stuff? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tektite [wikipedia.org]
How would that translate into, gel like substance, with an unusual color?
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 02 2019, @04:58PM
No, like this:
Apollo 11 Observations of a Remarkable Glazing Phenomenon on the Lunar Surface.
T. Gold. Science. New Series, Vol. 165, No. 3900 (Sep. 26, 1969), pp. 1345-1349. 10.1126/science.165.3900.1345
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/165/3900/1345 [sciencemag.org]
Melted glass from a cosmic impact 12,900 years ago
Ted E. Bunch, et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Jul 2012, 109 (28) E1903-E1912; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1204453109
https://www.pnas.org/content/109/28/E1903 [pnas.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 02 2019, @07:34PM (1 child)
Video of Apollo astronauts on the moon discussing the strange glassy substance they "were looking for".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 02 2019, @07:39PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_zfMyzXqfI&t=24m56s [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday September 02 2019, @07:55PM
The weird thing they found is a rock formation that resembles Mao dropping his drawers? You know, because it's the moon?
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Snotnose on Monday September 02 2019, @10:18PM (1 child)
As I said on That Other Site (tm), "The US makes a discovery like this, the pictures and data are already out there before the discovery is, um, discovered. The Chinese, on the other hand, aren't even showing pictures, let alone whatever scientific data they've found."
I'll leave it to others to debate the "hey guys, we found something really neeto! But we aren't gonna tell you what it is, cuz, reasons!" vs the "aww fuck, too late to classify it now" approach.
Of course I'm against DEI. Donald, Eric, and Ivanka.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 03 2019, @03:32AM
If it is any consolation India's space missions have their own twitter handle.
(Score: 2) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Tuesday September 03 2019, @05:19AM
We have undersea coral listening to the full moon, trees sending each other monthly support through their roots, and now this, mystery moon goo?
Fast Forward 30 Days
Mystery Moon Goo Test #59280971 GWONGDAOHINGDONG BASE - LOCATION TOP SECRET BUT DEEP UNDERGROUND
1. Fed mystery moon goo to HONG KONG PROTESTOR #5411809871 RESULTS CLASSIFIED
3. Fed mystery moon goo with cheese to HONG KONG PROTESTOR #54118098712 RESULTS CLASSIFIED
and so on....
Really though what does it taste like? What does it feel like? Are there any ways to prepare it that will get you high? What if you put it on cancer, what happens to the cancer?
I don't want the poor human test subjects to be the only ones to really know!
ps find a way to help the hong kong protestors, those people are going to be sent to concentration camps and have their organs harvested if we don't help them