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Huge Amounts of Water on The Moon May Have Just Been Located


Although we are aware that the Moon has water, we don't yet know how it came there, where it is kept, or how it moves around. Chinese researchers recently discovered microscopic glass beads in the lunar dirt as possible hiding spots for water.

Additionally, there is a significant amount of water involved—possibly as much as 270 trillion kilos (297.6 billion tons) of the substance.

Based on samples returned from China's Chang'e 5 rover expedition, the latest results. In December 2020, the spacecraft spent a few weeks gathering data from the lunar surface, and following research has already led to some fascinating new findings.


Typically, tiny glass beads form when space rock fragments collide with the surface of another object. This causes materials to vaporize and then settle into vitreous particles that are only a few tens or hundreds of micrometers across. Studies conducted in the past on crystals obtained from Apollo lunar samples have challenged preconceived notions about the Moon's sterility.

As hydrogen ions from these clouds of solar particles combine with oxygen already present in lunar soil, current study indicates that a significant percentage of the Moon's water is created with a little assistance from the Sun's winds.

The experts who conducted this most recent study believe that the store of water that these beads may symbolize could play a significant role in the lunar water cycle. Water can be replaced by the stores kept in the flexible impact glass as some of it is lost to space.

In their newly released article, the researchers state that "the impact glass beads preserve hydration signatures and display water abundance profiles consistent with the inward diffusion of solar wind-derived water."



For every gram of the particle's mass, each glass bead can contain up to 2,000 milligrams (0.002 grams) of water. The experts believe that the beads can collect water in a matter of years based on a study of hydration signatures.

According to the experts, "this quick diffusion time indicates that the solar wind-derived water can be rapidly accumulated and stored in lunar impact glass beads."

Knowing all of this is incredibly helpful for assisting Moon expeditions and bases. It might be much more pleasant to live on the lunar surface for long stretches of time if we can access this enormous reservoir of water.

Additionally, according to the researchers, other "airless bodies" like the Moon may be storing water in their top layers in a similar fashion. As the samples from Chang'e 5 are examined, expect more findings along these lines.

According to geophysicist and research co-author Hu Sen from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, "These results show that the impact glasses on the surface of the Moon and other airless bodies in the Solar System are capable of storing solar wind-derived water and releasing it into space."


The research has been published in Nature Geoscience.