A novel method for simultaneous analysis of particle size and mineralogy for Chang’E-5 lunar soil with minimum sample consumption

Abstract

The successful return of lunar soil samples from the northern Oceanus Procellarum by the Chang’E 5 (CE-5) mission has provided unprecedented ground-truth information for the previously unexplored region of the Moon. In particular, the particle size and mineral constituents of the CE-5 soil samples are of critical importance to interpret remote sensing data. With a Raman-based particle analysis system, we show that the particle size properties and mineral constituents of the CE-5 soil can be simultaneously determined with a small sample size (ca. 30 μg). The CE-5 sample scooped from the lunar surface has an overall small size between 0.4 μm and 73.9 μm (mean=3.5 μm), and mainly consists of pyroxene (39.4%), plagioclase (37.5%), olivine (9.8%), Fe-Ti oxides (1.9%), glass (8.3%) and other minor or trace phases. The results are consistent with previous analyses with larger sample sizes. In addition to minimum sample consumption, this method requires very little sample preparation, and can rapidly build a large database with each particle precisely traceable. Therefore, this novel technique is particularly suitable for the analysis of future returned soil samples from extraterrestrial bodies.