Chinese scientists said H2O was found in rocks collected by the Chang’e-5 lunar lander.
According to Chinese scientists, tests on Earth have confirmed indications that water may be present in rocks collected by the Chang’e 5 lunar lander.
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The findings were shared in a paper published this week in the journal Nature Communications.
The spacecraft, which landed on the Moon in December 2020, collected about 1.7 kilograms of rocks and lunar soil known as regolith.
It also used its onboard instruments to measure the chemical composition of the samples it collected.
A team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences confirmed the presence of water in the samples by directly examining the cargo that Chang’e-5 brought back to Earth.
Telescope and satellite observations have long led scientists to suspect that water on the Moon exists as hydroxyl, or H2O, in rocks.
Scientists hope that in the future, astronauts colonizing Earth’s moon will be able to extract molecular oxygen and hydrogen from the environment to produce water and pure oxygen for themselves.
