The surface
of the Moon is covered by a rubble pile of rock fragments and dust.
This so-called the lunar
regolith contains a unique radiation history of the Sun which is of importance
to understanding climate changes on Earth.
The regolith was produced
by innumerable meteorite impacts through geologic time. Surface rocks and mineral
grains are distinctively enriched in chemical elements and isotopes implanted
by solar radiation. As such, the Moon has recorded four billion years of the
Sun's history to a degree of completeness that we are unlikely to find elsewhere.