Researchers from Curtin University, Nanjing University and The Australian National University analysed tiny, green glass beads collected by Chang’e-5 who were found to have unusually high levels of magnesium, which Professor Alexander Nemchin from the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences said was evidence of a potentially deeper origin.

“These high-magnesium glass beads may have formed when an asteroid smashed into rocks that originated from the mantle deep within the Moon,” Professor Nemchin said.

Co-author Professor Tim Johnson, also from Curtin’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said the chemistry of the beads was unlike that of lunar surface rocks sampled previously. Professor Johnson said the rocks may have been brought up from the Moon’s mantle by a massive impact.