The Moon is Covered in Tiny Orange Glass Beads. Now We Know Why.

When the Apollo astronauts landed on the Moon, they discovered drifts of tiny brilliant orange glass beads glittering across the surface. Each one less than 1 mm across and formed about 3.6 billion years ago. These microscopic treasures, each smaller than a pinhead, had been hiding their secrets for billions of years. Now, cutting edge technology has finally cracked the mystery: they’re perfect time capsules from the Moon’s explosive volcanic past, frozen droplets of ancient lava that solidified instantly in the airless void recording the history of the Moon.