Glass Beads on the Moon Harbor Water Source

Glass Beads on the Moon Harbor Water Source

It looks like the Moon might be getting its own beach party soon because there might just be water on the lunar surface! Yes, you read that right – WATER on the MOON.

Scientists have been snooping around our lunar neighbor and have found some exciting news. Using data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), they found evidence of water molecules on the Moon’s sunlit surface! And not just a tiny drop, but water molecules dispersed throughout the surface material.

Now, this doesn’t mean that there are oceans or lakes or even puddles on the Moon, but it does mean that there is a chance that astronauts who might visit the Moon in the future could potentially use this water for drinking or even to make rocket fuel!

However, the quest for finding water on the Moon is far from over, as astronomers could find the substance in completely unexpected places from the lunar environment.

China’s Chang’e-5 probe discovers new traces of water on the Moon

A recent analysis of lunar samples brought to Earth by China’s Chang’e-5 probe has revealed that minuscule glass beads on the Moon contain a substantial amount of water, according to space.com. This finding provides a missing piece in the puzzle of the Moon’s water cycle, which has been studied for decades.

The glass beads may serve as a hidden reservoir from which water releases into the dry lunar soil during the cool and dark lunar night. The researchers estimate that a maximum of 600 trillion pounds of water may be trapped in the top 40 feet of the lunar surface, making the glass beads a convenient resource for water extraction for future human crews and rocket fuel manufacturing on the Moon.

Hu Sen, a co-author of the paper, stated:

These findings indicate 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.

Who knows, maybe in the future, we’ll have lunar resorts with water activities like surfing or swimming. The possibilities could be endless! All thanks to the discovery of water on the Moon.

The new study appears in Nature Geoscience.

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