As the lava became exposed to the vacuum, it separated out into tiny fragments and froze, forming tiny beads of volcanic glass in orange and black colors. In the case of the Apollo 17 orange glass, analysis back on Earth revealed volcanic glass formed when molten lava from the interior of the moon erupted, some 3 to 4 billion years ago, spewing up above the airless surface and into the vacuum of space. "Hitherto discovered macro-sized glass globules on the moon (up to 4 cm in diameter) are opaque impact glass." "Transparent and translucent glasses on the moon are less than 1 mm in diameters, and larger ones are dark and opaque," the team wrote in their paper. They were found on the surface of the moon, and are transparent to translucent, with some exhibiting a light brownish color. The paper details the discovery of several translucent spherical and dumbbell-shaped glassy globules that range in size, but are as large as 4 centimeters (1.5 inches). In the paper published in the Science Bulletin, Xiao said taking into account the location where the glass was found-in the South Pole Atkien basin at the lunar farside-and the local context of what is known about that region, they believe the beads are like most likely the result of large impacts to the moon. Since the rover doesn't have sampling capabilities and is not a sample return mission like it's older sibling, the Chang-E-5 mission, there is no compositional data on the glass beads, only observational evidence. They beads were found by looking at panoramic images taken by the rover. Zhiyong Xiao, one of the lead scientific team members of the Chang'E-4 mission.
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