China’s Chang’e 5 lunar landing and sampling mission found water on the moon through both in-situ analysis and materials delivered to Earth.
Dare Change 5 mission landed on the moon in December 2020, exploring and collecting the youngest lunar samples ever collected. Shortly afterwards, an ascent vehicle left the mission landing site at Oceanus Procellarum (the sea of storms) and samples of Chang’e 5 returned to Earth later in the month. Scientists have now revealed that spectral exploration of the surface of the lander and analysis of samples in Earth’s laboratories show the presence of water in the region.
“For the first time in the world, the results of laboratory analysis of lunar return samples and spectral data from in situ lunar surface surveys were used together to examine the presence, shape, and amount of” water. ” to lunar samples, “he added. Author Li Chunlai, a planetary scientist at the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC), said in a statement.
Related: A stunning panorama shows China’s Chang’e 5 landing site on the moon (photos)
China’s Chang’e 5 lunar landing used this robotic arm to help collect moon samples at Mons Rumker in the moon’s stormy ocean on December 1, 2020. (Image credit: CNSA via CCTV)
But the results certainly do not point to large deposits on the lunar surface. Rather, the results show that, on average, the rocks and soil on the moon’s surface contain about 30 parts of hydroxyl per million; Hydroxyl, with one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom, is the main ingredient in water.
The team also assessed that the water source was primarily native to the Moon, contained in a crystalline mineral called apatite. Less hydroxyl than expected seems to have come from solar windthe constant stream of charged particles flowing from the sun and through the solar system, which bombards the moon and implants its surface with particles.
“The results accurately answer the question of the characteristics of the distribution and the source of water in the Chang’e 5 landing zone and provide a terrestrial truth for the interpretation and estimation of water signals in the data. of the remote sensing survey, “Li added.
The results were published in Communications of nature (opens in new tab) on Tuesday (June 14).
He told her that Chang’e’s future missions will also focus on water to create a larger picture of lunar water, and particularly the possible ice of water at the lunar south pole with Change 7.
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