In a new scientific breakthrough, Chinese scientists have extracted large quantities of water from available lunar samples, thus providing a fundamental solution to one of the obstacles to settlement on the surface of the moon, according to China Central Television.
China has been pursuing its own lunar exploration project, known as Chang’e 5, for two decades, and the Chang’e 5 mission was the first to return lunar soil samples in 2020, 40 years after the last space mission to do so.
Researchers have found that minerals in lunar soil contain large amounts of hydrogen, and when these minerals are exposed to high temperatures, hydrogen reacts with other elements, leading to the production of water vapor.
According to China Central Television, after three years of tireless research, scientists have discovered a new way to extract large amounts of water from lunar soil, and this method is expected to contribute to the designs of future lunar scientific research units and stations and space stations.
The published press release indicated that the discovered method can produce about 51 to 76 kilograms of water from one ton of lunar soil, which is roughly equivalent to more than 100 500 ml water bottles, or the amount of drinking water consumed by 50 people per day.
China’s growth acceleration
China hopes its lunar missions will pave the way for the construction of an international research station on the moon, a project it is leading in cooperation with Moscow. The Chinese space agency has set a target date of 2035 for a space station at the moon’s south pole, with plans to launch another floating space station orbiting the moon by 2045.
The announcement of this discovery coincides with Ongoing experiments The study, conducted by Chinese scientists on samples brought back in June by the Chang’e 6 mission from the far side of the moon, the side that does not face Earth at all, is a historic first that no other space agency has attempted.
This discovery is particularly in line with Beijing’s competition for US dominance in the space market. Bill Nelson, the administrator of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), has expressed his deep concern on several occasions about China’s rapid and growing progress in space exploration in record time. The latest development reflects Beijing’s seriousness in controlling the resource-rich areas on the moon’s surface, specifically around the poles.
Related Post
The importance of the abundance of hydrogen in the lunar soil does not lie only in obtaining water, but scientists also consider the possibility of using hydrogen as an effective fuel for spacecraft and rockets later.
