Lunar Rover's Rare Discovery Leaves Scientists With Urgent Questions

While you may not know the mineral composition of an asteroid or the exact size of the Milky Way, everyone knows the basic order of the world. But sometimes that natural order is subverted by a monumental find. In fact, a lunar rover scouring the surface of the moon recently uncovered a strange substance amidst the familiar rocks and dust that scientists had long thought was impossible.

Chinese mission

Unlike the space race era, people aren't going to the moon so much lately. However, scientists are still scouring its surface for clues about the universe. In fact, China launched Yutu-2, an unmanned lunar rover that uncovered something ... unusual.

One-of-a-kind images

After landing on the dark side of the moon in late 2018, Yutu-2 started tracking across the lunar surface. It constantly snapped pictures along the way, hoping to capture evidence of anything that could be scientifically significant.

Need to nap

Scientists would eagerly examine each photo after it was beamed back to Earth, but they never spotted anything unusual. The rover needed to "nap" each day, however, giving them some time for extra analysis.

Fine detail

During the rover's downtime, scientists on Earth analyzed each photo down to the smallest detail. As usual, they saw a great deal of dust. But then, in one photo, something abnormal stood out against the Moon's craggy landscape.