Chinese Scientists Find Billions of Multicolored Beads Containing Water on The Moon

Chinese scientists say they have found a new source of water on the moon that can be used repeatedly. This could make it easier for future explorers to live there. According to the Daily Mail, Water embedded in tiny glass beads in the lunar dirt where meteorite impacts had taken place was found in samples brought back from the moon by China in 2020. It was found that the water in these shiny, multicolored beads could be easily extracted, and scientists feel they could be used as fuel or for astronauts to drink.

Scientists have known for years  there is water on the moon in the form of ice in shaded areas at its poles. The new findings, however, could be proof of a continuous water cycle, say scientists. The samples were brought back to Earth by the Chang’e 5 mission from Beijing. The results were published in the journal Nature Geoscience on Monday.

Hejiu Hui of Nanjing University, who took part in the study, said that the 32 randomly chosen glass beads ranged in size from the width of one hair to the width of several hairs, and that the amount of water in them was very small. Since there are billions or even trillions of these impact beads, they could add up to a lot of water, but the team says it would be hard to get at it.

Hui said, “Yes, it will take a lot and lots of glass beads.” “On the other hand, the moon has thousands of beads.” Because the solar wind is always hitting them with hydrogen, these beads could always make water. More samples will be studied,” Hui said.

Impact beads are all over the place. They are made of cooled molten material that was thrown out by incoming space rocks. Water could be extracted from the beads by heating them, a task which could be done by robots on future missions. We need to do more research to find out if this is possible and if the water is safe to drink. This shows that water can be replenished on the moon’s surface, which Hui called a new source of water on the moon.

Professor Sen Hu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said that the results “indicate that the impact glasses on the surface of the moon and other airless bodies in the solar system are able to store water from the solar wind and release it into space.”

Prof. Lewis Dartnell, an astronomer at the University of Westminster, told The Telegraph that it could have a big effect on future missions to the moon. He said, “The underground reservoir is kept full by the ongoing process of hydrogen from the sun bonding to oxygen in the air and the resulting water diffusing underground to be absorbed by glass beads.” “The fact that there is water on the surface of the moon is important because it would be a key resource for humans to live on the moon for a long time.” “Water is needed to drink, but it can also be split with electrolysis to make oxygen for the habitats to breathe.”

Based on samples brought back by the Apollo moonwalkers more than 50 years ago, scientists have found water in glass beads made by volcanic activity on the moon. These, too, could give water to future crews and be used to make rocket fuel. Nasa wants to send people back to the surface of the moon by the end of 2025. They will head for the south pole, where craters that are always in the shade are thought to be full of frozen water.