- Chinese researchers have discovered on the Moon water trapped in glass beads
- These “microscopic water bottles” would have formed via asteroid impacts on the surface of the Moon
- This discovery could be the key to humanity’s return to the Moon – more than 270 billion cubic meters of water would be available in this form
The Moon is not as dry as we thought. Chinese researchers announce that they have found water in lunar soil samples brought back by the Chang’e-5 mission in 2020. The researchers’ surprise is that this water is enclosed in tiny glass beads, which are are formed when asteroids collide with the lunar surface.
These glass beads, which measure between 50 micrometers and 1 millimeter, contain up to 2,000 parts per million (PPM) of water, according to a study published in the journal Nature Geoscience. By extrapolating these figures to the entire lunar surface, the researchers estimate that the Moon is full of about 270,000 billion kilograms of water in this form, or 270 billion cubic meters.
Good news: there would finally be more water than we thought on the Moon
Two phenomena would be involved in the formation of what looks like small glass water bottles. Impacts on the Moon’s surface melt silica and other minerals on the surface, causing the formation of small, highly porous glass beads. They are not strictly speaking closed. But they can attract and retain water, as long as the element is nearby.
The solar wind brings hydrogen ions, which can react with the oxygen atoms present in the lunar glass to form over very long periods of time enough water molecules to saturate these small porous capsules, which therefore act as sorts of solid sponge.
In theory, extracting this water therefore amounts to collecting these pearls on the surface of the lunar soil and crushing them, for example in a centrifuge, to extract the liquid water – or, as the Chinese researchers propose, to heat the substrate collected in order to cause its evaporation.
This discovery has important implications for the exploration and colonization of the Moon. The star is sorely lacking in liquid water on its surface – and for the moment the mission projects are mainly counting on certain craters with parts that are constantly in the shade and which contain ice.
Water will be a vital resource for humanity’s return to the Moon. It is not only a question of allowing astronauts and taikonauts to see, but also of producing the fuel and oxidizer necessary (hydrogen and oxygen) to return to Earth at little cost or to leave for even more distant missions.
