Study reveals moon’s surface may hold tonnes of water

Recent research shows that small glass beads spread across the moon’s surface contain what could be tonnes of water.

The water could be extracted from the beads by astronauts in lunar missions in the future.

The discovery is an important one for space agencies as it means as well as the water there could also be hydrogen and oxygen so that building a base on the moon looks more probable.

Mahesh Anand who is a professor of Planetary Science and Exploration at the Open University said “This is one of the most exciting discoveries we’ve made.” “With this finding, the potential for exploring the moon in a sustainable manner is higher than it’s ever been.”

Professor Anand together with a team of Chinese scientists analysed the tiny glass beads when lunar soil samples were returned to Earth in December 2020 by the Chinese Chang’e-5 mission. The beads form when meteoroids crash into the moon and send molten droplets up in showers which then solidify and mix into the moon dust.

The tests on the glass beads revealed that they contain vast quantities of water when taken across the entire moon’s surface.

Anand continued to say “This is going to open up new avenues which many of us have been thinking about. If you can extract the water and concentrate it in significant quantities, it’s up to you how you utilise it.”

The research which was printed in Nature Geoscience states that removing water from the glass beads should be much easier than extracting the frozen water which currently lies in shaded craters.

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Source: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/mar/27/glass-beads-on-moon-surface-hold-billions-of-tonnes-of-water-scientists-say