Mar 29, 2023 13:00:00

It turns out that there is a ``glass ball that stores water'' on the moon, and the possibility that 270 billion tons of water is stored in the entire month

A Chinese and British research team discovered a ``water-storing glass ball'' from a lunar soil sample brought back by China's unmanned lunar probe `

`Chang'e 5, '' which landed on the moon in 2020. Did. The water in the glass sphere is replenished by the solar wind, and it is possible that up to 270 billion tons of water may be stored throughout the moon.

A solar wind-derived water reservoir on the Moon hosted by impact glass beads | Nature Geoscience
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01159-6

China discovers strange glass beads on moon that may contain billions of tons of water | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/china-discovers-strange-glass-beads-on-moon-that-may-contain-billions-of-tons-of-water

Shiny Glass Beads Reveal How the Moon 'Recharges' Its Water
https://www.inverse.com/science/moon-water-glass-beads

Glass beads on the moon's surface may hold billions of tons of water, scientists say |
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/mar/27/glass-beads-on-moon-surface-hold-billions-of-tonnes-of-water-scientists-say

Chang'e 5, an unmanned lunar probe from China, successfully landed on the moon in 2020 and brought back about 2 kg of soil samples collected by drilling the moon to a depth of 2 m.

China's unmanned lunar probe 'Chang'e No. 5' returns safely with 2 kg of 'moon stone' - GIGAZINE

Research teams such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing University, and the Open University in the United Kingdom analyzed `` microtektite (impact glass) '' found in soil samples brought back by Chang'e 5. Tektites are glassy minerals that are solidified by quenching and solidifying the material on the surface of the planet that evaporates when a meteorite collides with it at high speed. called microtektite.

Hejiu Hui , a planetary geochemist at Nanjing University and co-author of the paper, said: 'These microtectites are shiny because they are glasses. Some microtectites are transparent, others are not. They also have different colors and could be black, green and orange glass beads,' he told the web media Inverse.

Below is an image of the microtectite released by the research team. Each microtektite is only a few tens of micrometers to a millimeter in size, and is very small.

When the research team analyzed the moon's microtektite, it was confirmed that it contained water inside. Although water was abundant in the periphery of the glass beads, the water content decreased in the center. This suggests that water diffuses inside the microtektite and gradually releases water into the surrounding atmosphere and soil.

We also found that the hydrogen isotope composition in the periphery of the microtektite is similar to that of

the solar wind , which is a high-temperature plasma that blows out from the sun. The research team points out that the microtektite water may come from the solar wind.

Since lunar soil contains oxygen, the microtectites that form on the lunar surface also contain oxygen. It is possible that the water generated by the reaction between this oxygen and the ionized hydrogen atoms contained in the solar wind may be absorbed by the microtektite. ``Over time, some of the glass spheres will be buried in lunar dust called regolith , and will be trapped underground with water in them,'' said Live Science, a scientific media. According to the research team, 300 million to 270 billion tons of water may be stored in microtectites throughout the moon.

The results of this study suggest that microtektites formed by meteorite impacts not only contain water, but also the existence of a cycle in which the water is gradually released every few years and the lost water is replenished by the solar wind. suggesting. 'It takes only a few years for this kind of water to form in the lunar glass sphere and be documented in the geological record,' said

Mahesh Anand , a professor of planetary sciences at the Open University and co-author of the paper. I am commenting.

The presence of water on the moon is important for future manned exploration missions, as water can be used not only for humans to drink for life support, but also to extract oxygen for breathing and use it as fuel. It is important.

Sen Hu , a planetary geologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and co-author of the paper, told the scientific media Live Science, ``If you want to extract water contained in microtectites for future lunar exploration, you must first collect glass spheres. , boiled in the oven to cool the water vapor released.In the end, we can get liquid water in a bottle.'