China’s Chang’e-5, which touched down on the Moon in December 2020, found water at its landing site using spectral reflectance measurements of soil and rocks.
Now, researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) found that impact glass beads in Chang’e-5’s lunar soils also contain some water.
Detailed studies suggest that these glass beads are likely to be a new water reservoir on the Moon reflecting the movement of water into and away from the surface due to solar wind.
Solar winds originating from the Sun are capable of changing the chemical composition of the Moon’s surface by causing it to eject oxygen which then combines with hydrogen ions in the same solar winds to create water.
Many lunar missions have confirmed the presence of structural water or water ice on the Moon and there is little doubt that most of the Moon’s surface harbours water, though the amount is much less than on Earth.
Surface water on the Moon has been shown to be lost to...