It was while going through the lunar soil samples brought back by its probe that Chinese scientists stumbled upon something quite unexpected: water mixed with minerals.

Although detecting water on the moon is not entirely new, this discovery is different. It’s not the first time that water has been found in glass beads on the moon; Chinese scientists did that last year. Now, however, for the first time, H2O—water in molecular form—has been identified in physical lunar samples. More interestingly, the water was found in a place where scientists never thought it existed.

Samples were analyzed by a research team working with material returned to Earth by China’s Chang’e-5 probe, which landed on the lunar surface in 2020. Among many discoveries, an “unknown lunar mineral” was described as a “prismatic, plate-like transparent crystal” about the size of a human hair and named ULM-1. This new mineral is a hydrated ammonium magnesium chloride mineral with the chemical composition (NH4)MgCl3·6H2O and comprises approximately 41% water. Water molecules are stabilized through its ammonia content, remaining stable at temperature fluctuations that are extreme for pure water on the moon.

Such molecular water could have implications for lunar habitation, serving as a huge resource for future missions. It is a part of the greater ambitions of China to be among the leading nations in space, with a long-term plan for a research base on the moon. Many Chinese social media users celebrated this breakthrough, which seemed to be a demonstration of the country’s rising capability in space exploration.

According to David A. Kring, a principal scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Texas, who was not involved in the work, the findings would deepen our understanding of the interactions between rock and vapor on the surface of the Moon.

China set off in lunar research through its Chang’e program, which is named after the Chinese goddess of the moon. Chang’e-1 was launched in 2007 as the first of these missions to reach space; it marked China’s entry into the realm of moon exploration by orbiting and mapping the moon.

In 2013, the Chang’e-3 mission made China the third country, after the United States and the Soviet Union, to make a soft landing on the moon. It deployed the Yutu rover, which was supposed to perform scientific experiments and transmit the data from the lunar surface.

In 2019, another milestone was reached by China with the Chang’e-4 mission, which became the first spacecraft to land on the far side of the moon, an area of the moon that had been unexplored so far. It gave new views that were unprecedented in their capability to work out the geology and environment of the moon.

The latest of them, Chang’e-5, launched in 2020, was the first mission in many years that returned lunar samples to Earth. These samples, weighing around 4.4 pounds, empowered Chinese scientists to make some groundbreaking discoveries at their laboratories, including the recent detection of water in molecular form.

But this will not be the end of China’s ambitious lunar program. It wishes to send astronauts to the moon by 2030 and then establish a research station on the moon’s surface, securing it as a major player in the new space race.

News Desk