Bandung, IndonesiaSentinel.com — Succeeded in Extracting water from Moon soil, Chinese scientists have discovered a breakthrough in space research history. Using a newly invented method, Moon soil brought back from a 2020 expedition was able to produced large amounts of water.
“After three years of in-depth research and repeated verification, a way on using lunar soil to produce large quantity of water was discovered through a brand-new method. This discovery is expected to serve as an important design basis for the future of space and lunar scientific research station construction,” said CCTV Broadcaster on August 22, according to Reuters.
Upon analyzing the soil samples of the moon brought back from Chang’e 5 lunar expedition back in 2020, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences discovered that this ‘moon soil’ actually contains large amounts of hydrogen, besides other elements. This composition of elements is eventually able to produce water when heated to very high temperatures.
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It is required to be heated to a temperature exceeding 990 degrees Celsius for this soil to start producing water. It claimed that one ton of moon soil will be able to produce about 51–76 kg of water, equivalent to more than a hundred 500-ml bottles of water or the daily drinking water consumption of 50 people.
Interestingly, this moon soil not only creates water but also creates iron and ceramic glass as byproducts from the heating process, which is also considered another valuable material.
The Significance of Water Extracted from Moon Soil
The discovery could have significant implications for China’s decades-long project of building a permanent lunar outpost amid the race between the U.S. and China to find and mine the moon’s resources.
Throughout this discovery, Moon base settlers could potentially produce water from Moon soil while also using its byproducts from the water extraction process to help build their bases.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences team is already seeing far through by proposing a way to manage this potential. They suggest that concave mirrors might be used to focus sunlight in order to heat the moon soil. They are also planning on creating electronics and building structures using the iron and other byproducts from the heating process.
NASA head Bill Nelson said that the water found on the moon could be used to create hydrogen rocket fuel, which could fuel further space exploration to Mars and other destinations. Emphasizing the importance of moon water goes beyond the making of a human moon permanent settlement.
(Raidi/Agung)
