A new study based on samples from China’s Chang’e-5 and Chang’e-6 missions is helping scientists understand how the basic ingredients of life arrived and changed in the early solar system.
Elements like carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur are essential for life.
Scientists believe these elements were delivered to Earth and the moon billions of years ago by asteroids and comets.
On Earth, however, geological activity and life itself have erased much of the evidence of these early events.
The moon, in contrast, has remained mostly unchanged, acting like a natural time capsule that preserves this ancient history.
In this new research, published in Science Advances, scientists for the first time identified a variety of nitrogen-containing organic materials in lunar soil.
The study was led by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, working with international collaborators.
Using powerful microscopes and chemical analysis tools, the team examined tiny grains of moon soil. They found that organic matter exists in several forms, including small particles, thin coatings on mineral surfaces, and tiny inclusions trapped inside grains.
These materials are extremely small—often only a fraction of the width of a human hair.
Chemically, the organic matter is made mostly of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. Some samples even contained amide groups, which are important in biological molecules like proteins.
This shows that the material is more complex than simple carbon, suggesting it has gone through chemical changes over time.
The researchers also studied the isotopic “fingerprints” of these materials. They found that the isotopes of hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen are lighter than those found in similar materials from meteorites.
This points to a process where incoming organic material was altered by high-energy impacts. When asteroids or comets hit the moon, they likely caused the materials to break down, vaporize, and then re-form as they cooled and settled back onto the surface.
Another key discovery was the role of the solar wind. The moon has no atmosphere to protect it, so it is constantly bombarded by particles from the sun. The team found clear signs that this solar radiation has continued to modify the organic matter over time. These changes act like a unique signature, proving that the materials are truly from space and not contamination from Earth.
Overall, the study reveals a complete life cycle of organic material on the moon: delivery by space objects, transformation by impacts, and ongoing modification by solar radiation.
This not only helps scientists understand the moon’s history but also provides clues about how the building blocks of life may have evolved on Earth and elsewhere in the solar system.
Source: Chinese Academy of Sciences.
