– Chinese scientists have detected traces of water in samples collected from the moon by China’s Chang’e-5 lunar rover mission in 2020.
– The samples revealed the presence of trace amounts of water molecules that can persist in sunlit areas of the moon in the form of hydrated salts.
– Chang’e-5 landed in a region of the moon in the Oceanus Procellarum basin, collecting the first samples from the moon since the Apollo era in a higher latitude than previous US missions.
– The discovery adds to existing evidence that water can be found in more forms than previously thought on the lunar surface, such as molecules bound up in crystalline minerals.
– It marks further progress in understanding the presence and distribution of water on the moon, which has implications for future lunar exploration and use of lunar resources. China has since conducted additional moon missions, including retrieving samples from the lunar far side.
Source: Futurism
