中国"玉兔"号月球车发现月岩新品种

The Chinese Moon rover Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, has identified a new type of moon rock, according to a study published Tuesday in Nature Communications.

据《自然·通讯》上发表的一项研究称，中国的"玉兔"月球车已经发现了新的月球岩石品种。

The Yutu rover had poked around a region that's been reshaped by volcanic activity relatively recently. After analyzing the data from the Yutu rover, a group of Chinese and American scientists say in the paper that this region's composition differs from other mare sample-return sites and is a new type of mare basalt not previously sampled.

"玉兔"正在探索的区域在相对较近的历史时期内曾被火山活动重塑。在分析“玉兔”月球车带回的数据之后，由中国和美国科学家组成的科学小组在文章中表示，该地区的岩石成分不同于其他观测点反馈的数据样本，是一种以前没有采样过的、新型的玄武岩。

According to the Washington Post, until now, basalts sampled from the moon all had either very low or very high titanium content. By examining the comparatively young rocks uncovered by an impact crater, Yutu found basalts with intermediate levels of titanium and high iron levels.

据华盛顿邮报报道，迄今为止，从月球采集的玄武岩样本中的钛元素含量要么特别高，要么特别低。但“玉兔”检测了在一座环形山附近的“年轻”岩石样本后发现，这里玄武岩的钛含量处于中游水平，铁含量则相当高。

"The variable titanium distribution on the lunar surface suggests that the Moon's interior was not homogenized," Washington University's Bradley L. Jolliff, who collaborated with Chinese scientists to analyze the rover's data, said in a statement.

与中国科学家合作分析“玉兔”数据的美国华盛顿大学专家布拉德利·乔利夫说：“月面各处的钛含量存在差异，说明月球内部物质的成分并不单一。”

The study is expected to throw new light on the origins of Earth's nearest neighbor. In addition to showing the unexpected diversity of the moon, the results could help scientists do a better job of studying its surface from orbiters.

这项发现将会为研究地球最近的邻居的起源带来新的方向。除了展示月球未知的多样性，这一结果可能也会帮助科学家更好的通过人造卫星来研究月球表面。