New moon mineral found

Ref: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/np...PI....34.1818A
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/np...CLE&db_key=AST

Ref: http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/apr/27moon1.htm

New moon mineral found

April 27, 2004 15:53 IST

A new mineral has been found in a meteorite from the moon which was
found in Oman in April 2001, report agencies.

The mineral has been named hapkeite, after Bruce Hapke of the
University of Pittsburgh who predicted the existence of such a
compound on the moon 30 years ago. Hapke, 70, retired recently.

Hapkeite, an iron and silicon compound, is made when tiny particles
from space impact the moon's surface at very high speeds. Since the
moon has an airless surface, the process is very different from what
occurs under similar circumstances on earth, said scientists.

Small meteorites which would burn after entering the earth's
atmosphere constantly bombard the lunar surface and in turn darken the
moon's surface, a process called 'weathering.' The new found mineral
is one of several such compounds predicted as possible a result of
space weathering.