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Scientists have discovered a new and renewable source of water on the moon for future explorers in lunar samples from a Chinese mission.
Water is embedded in small glass beads in the lunar dirt where there is a meteorite impact. These shiny colored glass beads are among the samples returned from the moon by China in 2020.
The size of the beads is from the width of one hair to several hairs; the water content is only a miniscule fraction, said Hejiu Hui from Nanjing University, who took part in the study.
Because there are billions if not trillions of these impact beads, it’s possible that there is a large amount of water, but mining would be difficult, according to the team.
“Yes, it will require a lot of glass beads,” Hui said in an email. “On the other hand, there are lots and lots of beads on the moon.”
These beads can continuously produce water due to constant bombardment by hydrogen in the solar wind. The findings, published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience, are based on 32 glass beads randomly selected from lunar dirt returned from the Chang’e 5 lunar mission.
More samples will be examined, Hui said.
These impact beads are ubiquitous, resulting from the cooling of molten material ejected by incoming space rocks. Water can be extracted by heating the beads, possibly by future robotic missions. More research is needed to determine whether this is possible and, if so, whether the water is safe to drink.
This suggests “water can be recharged on the lunar surface … a new reservoir of water on the moon,” Hui said.
Previous research has found water in glass beads formed by the moon’s volcanic activity, based on samples returned by the Apollo moonwalkers more than half a century ago. It can also provide water not only for use by the winter crew, but for rocket fuel.
NASA aims to put astronauts back on the moon’s surface by the end of 2025. They will aim for the south pole where the permanently shadowed crater is believed to be filled with frozen water.
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