In a groundbreaking discovery, Chinese scientists have successfully extracted significant amounts of water from lunar soil samples, addressing a critical challenge for future lunar settlements. This achievement follows the Chang’e 5 mission, which marked the first successful return of lunar soil samples in 2020 after a 40-year hiatus. The research reveals that minerals in the moon's soil contain large quantities of hydrogen, which, when heated, can react with other elements to create water vapor. This innovative extraction method could yield between 51 and 76 kilograms of water per ton of lunar soil, equivalent to the daily water consumption of 50 people.
China's ambitious lunar exploration program aims to establish an international research station on the moon by 2035, in collaboration with Russia. The recent announcement comes as Chinese scientists continue to analyze samples from the Chang’e 6 mission, which successfully collected materials from the far side of the moon. This development underscores China's determination to compete with the United States in the space race, particularly in resource-rich lunar regions. The availability of hydrogen not only provides a potential water source but also opens avenues for using it as a fuel for future space missions.
