Study on surface characteristics of Chang’E-5 fine grained lunar soil

Abstract

<p indent="0mm">Chang’E-5 lunar soil is the youngest lunar soil sample returned by human beings so far, and the shovel samples record the space weathering history of the lunar surface in sampling area. This study found that on the surface of the fine-grained lunar soil particles of Chang’E-5 are widely distributed typical morphological features, such as microcraters, mineral cleavage surfaces, gasification deposition, and covered glass, which reflect that in the space dominated by meteorites and micrometeorites bombardment, the effects of impact fragmentation, melting sputtering, gasification deposition, etc., have transformed the morphology and characteristics of lunar soil particles during weathering transfomation. The results reveal the transformation mechanism of the extreme environment of the lunar surface on the mineral morphology, thus helping scholars better understand the weathering process in space.