UK Scientist to Study Moon Samples

Prof Mahesh Anand of the Open University has become the first UK scientist selected to study Moon samples from China’s 2020 Chang’e-5 mission. He is one of only seven researchers worldwide chosen to receive the material, which was collected from Oceanus Procellarum on the lunar surface.

Anand and his team will analyse the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and noble gas content of the samples to better understand the Moon’s formation and the history of volatiles in the Earth-Moon system. The project highlights growing international collaboration in space science, with China sharing lunar materials for global research for the first time.