Chinese scientists have discovered a “brand new method” to produce large quantities of water using lunar soil brought back from a 2020 mission, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Thursday.
In 2020, China’s Chang’e-5 mission gave humans the opportunity to obtain lunar samples for the first time in 44 years. Researchers from the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences found that minerals in this “moon soil” contain large amounts of hydrogen, which reacts with other elements to form water vapor when heated to very high temperatures, CCTV reported.
“After three years of in-depth research and repeated verification, a new method of using moon soil to produce large amounts of water has been discovered, which is expected to provide an important design basis for the construction of future lunar scientific research stations and space stations,” CCTV said.
The discovery could hold significance for China’s decades-old project to build a permanent outpost on the Moon, as the US and China compete to explore and mine the moon’s resources.
NASA chief Bill Nelson has repeatedly raised concerns about China’s rapid advancement in its space programme and the potential for Beijing to dominate the most resource-rich locations on the Moon.
Using the new method, one tonne of lunar soil would produce about 51-76 kilograms of water, equivalent to more than 100 bottles of 500 ml each, or the daily drinking water consumption of 50 people, the state broadcaster reported.
China hopes that recent and future lunar missions will lay the foundation for the construction of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), an initiative it is leading with Russia.
China’s space agency has set a date of 2035, when a “base station” will be built on the moon’s south pole, and a space station orbiting the moon by 2045.
The discovery was announced at a time when Chinese scientists are already conducting experiments on lunar samples brought back by the Chang’e-6 mission in June.
While the Chang’e-5 mission brought samples from the near side of the Moon, Chang’e-6 brought lunar soil from the far side of the Moon, which always faces away from Earth.
The importance of water on the moon goes far beyond making a permanent human presence viable. NASA’s Nelson told NPR in May that water found on the moon could be used to make hydrogen rocket fuel, which could fuel further space exploration to Mars and other destinations.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
