Scientists detect water inside lunar samples returned to Earth by Chang’e-5
Chinese scientists have found water molecules trapped within glass beads found within the lunar samples returned to Earth by the lunar lander Chang’e-5.
The team polished and analysed 117 glass beads which were scooped up by China’s Chang’e-5 spacecraft in December 2020 and brought back to Earth. The beads are formed by tiny meteorites that bombard the surface of the Moon, which lacks the protection of an atmosphere. The heat of the impact melts the surface material, which cools into round glass beads around the width of a strand of hair.
…The glass beads may make up around three to five percent of lunar soil, according to the study. A “back of the envelope” calculation suggested that there could be around a third of a trillion tonnes of water inside all the Moon’s glass beads, he added. And it only takes mild heat of around 100 degrees Celsius (210 Fahrenheit) to liberate the water from the beads, Anand said.
According to the paper, the water’s origin might be tied to the solar wind, and might have been implanted in the beads after their impact formation.
If this analysis is correct, it might explain the hydrogen signature found in large parts of the lunar surface, where it is believed water simply couldn’t exist. It also might explain why the first images inside permanently shadowed lunar craters show no obvious ice, only what appear to be ponds of dark dust. The dust might contain these beads, and thus explain the hydrogen signature detected there as well.
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Chinese scientists have found water molecules trapped within glass beads found within the lunar samples returned to Earth by the lunar lander Chang’e-5.
The team polished and analysed 117 glass beads which were scooped up by China’s Chang’e-5 spacecraft in December 2020 and brought back to Earth. The beads are formed by tiny meteorites that bombard the surface of the Moon, which lacks the protection of an atmosphere. The heat of the impact melts the surface material, which cools into round glass beads around the width of a strand of hair.
…The glass beads may make up around three to five percent of lunar soil, according to the study. A “back of the envelope” calculation suggested that there could be around a third of a trillion tonnes of water inside all the Moon’s glass beads, he added. And it only takes mild heat of around 100 degrees Celsius (210 Fahrenheit) to liberate the water from the beads, Anand said.
According to the paper, the water’s origin might be tied to the solar wind, and might have been implanted in the beads after their impact formation.
If this analysis is correct, it might explain the hydrogen signature found in large parts of the lunar surface, where it is believed water simply couldn’t exist. It also might explain why the first images inside permanently shadowed lunar craters show no obvious ice, only what appear to be ponds of dark dust. The dust might contain these beads, and thus explain the hydrogen signature detected there as well.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
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Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
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