China’s Chang’E-5 spacecraft has confirmed evidence of natural water on the moon. Here’s more about it.
In an incredible series of events, the Chinese lunar spacecraft Chang’E-5 confirmed the evidence for natural water on the moon. The result was confirmed by spectral analysis of samples taken from different places on the moon.
Lunar samples were taken from the Moon’s Oceanus Procellarum. During the mission, scientists on board conducted a spectral analysis of the collected samples, which gave the first confirmation of the presence of water on the moon in 2020. The lander returned to Earth in 2021 and performed an in-depth laboratory analysis, which confirmed the results of spectral analysis.
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Now, in incredible development, the same team of scientists has confirmed that the water collected from the samples is native to the Moon, which means that it originates from the Moon itself.
In a statement to the press, LI Chunlai of the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said: the shape and amount of “water” in the lunar samples. The results accurately answer the question of the characteristics of the distribution and source of water in the Chang’E-5 landing area and provide a basic truth about the interpretation and evaluation of water signals in remote sensing data.
The study was published on the Nature Communications website in an article entitled “Evidence for lunar surface water from Chang’E-5 in situ spectra and returned samples.”
Although there are no rivers or lakes on the moon, evidence of local water has been found in moon rocks and soil in the form of hydroxyl, which is one of the main constituents of water.
LI Chunlai said: “This excess of hydroxyl is local, demonstrating the presence of internal water of lunar origin in Chang’E-5 lunar samples and that water plays an important role in the formation and crystallization of late lunar basaltic magma.
China is planning additional missions to continue researching the availability of water on the moon.
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