The tiny glass beads scattered across the surface of the Moon could potentially hold billions of tons of water, which could be mined and used in future missions, researchers say.
According to The Guardian (UK), the new discovery is considered one of the most important breakthroughs for space agencies that aim to build a base on the Moon. This means that the Moon's surface contains not only water, but also hydrogen and oxygen.
“This is one of the most exciting discoveries we have made,” said Mahesh Anand, Professor of Planetary Science and Exploration at the Open University. With this discovery, the potential for sustainable lunar exploration is higher than ever.”
More than half a century after man last set foot on the Moon, NASA and other space agencies are preparing for a mission to return humans to this place. NASA's Artemis mission aims to put the first woman and first person of color on the Moon. Meanwhile, the European Space Agency plans to build a village on the Moon. Both hope to use materials on the Moon to maintain bases beyond Earth.
Video of the Chang'e-5 spacecraft, broadcast at a Chinese lunar exploration program event, at the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in Beijing, China. Photo: Reuters
Anand and a team of Chinese scientists analyzed fine glass particles from soil samples taken on the Moon brought back to Earth by China's Chang'e-5 mission in December 12. These particles, less than 2020 millimeter in diameter, form when meteorites crash into the Moon and create rain of molten droplets. The droplets then solidified and merged with the lunar dust.
Tests on glass beads show that they contain significant amounts of water, ranging from 300 million tons to 270 billion tons over the entire surface of the Moon.
“This discovery opens up new avenues for many of us to think about. If we can extract water and concentrate it in significant quantities, how we use it is up to us,” Anand said.
The theory that the Moon may not be entirely a barren wasteland has emerged from previous missions. In the 1990s, NASA's Clementine orbiter found evidence of frozen water in deep, steep-sided craters near the Moon's poles. In 2009, India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft detected what appeared to be a thin layer of water in lunar dust on the surface.
The latest study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, points to fine glass particles as the source of that surface water. Unlike water that freezes in craters, humans or robots working on the Moon can be much easier to mine.
“There is evidence that when the temperature of this material exceeds 100 degrees Celsius, it will start to melt and can be mined,” Anand said.
Ian Crawford, Professor of Planetary Science and astrobiology at Birkbeck, University of London, said the new findings support the hypothesis that the Moon is richer in water than previously thought.
“The lunar reservoir could prove a useful resource in areas far from polar ice deposits. However, we should not overestimate the amount of water available, at most 130 ml/m3 of lunar soil," he said.
According to VNA/Newspapers
