Single-crystal X-Ray diffraction of lunar minerals

Understanding lunar mineralogy is essential for reconstructing the Moon’s geological evolution. Thanks to recent sample-return missions, lunar surface materials can now be analyzed directly in the laboratory. The highly focused and brilliant X-ray beam at the EBS-ESRF provides unprecedented spatial resolution, enabling the determination of crystal structures and chemical compositions in micron- and submicron-sized domains. The current proposal aims to investigate several polycrystalline lunar samples using single-crystal X-ray diffraction. This approach will allow to characterize individual crystallites within complex aggregates, yielding new insights into their formation conditions.