Chinese scientists recently discovered two new lunar minerals in samples retrieved from the moon by China's Chang'e 5 mission, according to the China National Space Administration.

The administration announced on Friday in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, that the two minerals have been reviewed and approved by the International Mineralogical Association's Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature, and Classification, and have been named Magnesiochangesite-(Y) and Changesite-(Ce).

This marks the second and third lunar minerals discovered by Chinese scientists, following the identification of Changesite-(Y) in 2022. They are also the seventh and eighth lunar minerals ever found by scientists around the world in returned lunar samples.

According to the administration, Magnesiochangesite-(Y) was discovered by a research team led by senior scientist Li Ziying from the Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology under China National Nuclear Corp. 

Changesite-(Ce) was discovered by a team led by Hou Zengqian, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, and has been identified both in Chang'e 5 lunar samples and in a lunar meteorite that fell within China's territory.

Both of the two substances are rare earth phosphate minerals hidden within the fine particles of lunar soil with a grain size of only a few micrometers. They feature a delicate and unique crystal structure with no identical mineral counterparts found on Earth.

Together with the previously discovered Changesite-(Y), the two new minerals belong to the merrillite group. This group of phosphate minerals is commonly found in samples from the moon, Mars, and asteroids, yet exhibits compositional diversity and heterogeneous distribution across different terrestrial planetary bodies.

The space administration noted that these new discoveries will provide critical scientific evidence for in-depth research into the moon's material composition, geological evolution, and origin.