--- title: "Chinese Rover Discovers It’s Sitting on 39 Feet of Moon Dust" description: "Researchers have started analyzing data collected by China's Yutu-2 Moon rover's ground-penetrating radar. They found mostly Moon dust." date: "2020-02-27" modified: "2020-02-27" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/chinese-rover-sitting-39-feet-moon-dust" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Moon" - "Science & Energy" - "Space" tags: - "chang'e 4" - "far side of the moon" - "yutu" --- # Chinese Rover Discovers It’s Sitting on 39 Feet of Moon Dust ![Researchers have started analyzing data collected by China's Yutu-2 Moon rover's ground-penetrating radar. They found mostly Moon dust.]() *\Image: CSNA\* Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing have started analyzing data collected by the country's Yutu-2 Moon rover's ground-penetrating radar. The instrument peered 40 meters (131 feet) below the lunar surface — and found it was sitting on top of a mountain of fine dust. China's Chang'e 4 lander [touched down]() on the far side of the Moon in January 2019, becoming the first man-made object to do so. Shortly after, it deployed the rover Yutu-2 from its belly. The rover has been exploring the South Pole-Aitken basin, the largest and oldest crater on the Moon, ever since. Using high-frequency radar to look beneath the surface, it found that it was sitting on top of 12 meters (39 feet) of fine Moon dust, as detailed in [a paper]() published in the journal *Science Advances* on Wednesday. "That’s a lot of regolith," David Kring, senior scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston who was not involved in the research, [told *The New York Times*](). "That’s food for thought." The fine particles were likely the result of many small meteorite collisions and a ton of solar radiation, as [*New Scientist* reports](). Below the dust, between 12 and 24 meters (39 and 79 feet), the rover spotted larger rocks, likely what's left of larger asteroid and meteorite impacts. Further below that, the rover detected alternating layers of fine and coarser soil. Most noteworthy is the striking difference between the new readings and the ones taken at Chang'e 4's landing site, where measurements suggested it landed on top of a dense lava layer buried below the surface, the remains of a volcanic event. "The subsurface structure at the Chang’e 4 landing site is more complex, and suggests a totally different geological context,” Yan Su, co-author from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told *New Scientist*. **READ MORE:** [China’s rover has discovered what lies beneath the moon’s far side]() \[*New Scientist*\] **More on the mission:** *[China Claims Its Moon Rover Found a Colorful “Gel-Like” Substance]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()