Boden says

Using a brand new method, scientists in China have discovered an astonishingly simple trick to extract water from the lunar soil.

As South China Morning Post and other media report that the new technique was tested on lunar soil samples brought back by China’s Chang’e 5 mission in 2020. It was the first mission in 44 years to bring soil samples from the moon to Earth.

Published in the journal The innovationFounded in 2020 by young Chinese scientists, these findings suggest not only that lunar base settlers could potentially produce drinking water from the lunar soil, but also that they could use byproducts from the water extraction process to build their bases.

When analyzing the samples, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that they contained high concentrations of hydrogen and oxygen, among other elements.

When heated to over 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, these elements produced water vapor, according to the Video surveillance State broadcaster. Interestingly, the ground itself also appears to melt after this temperature threshold is reached.

Groundwater level

In addition to the alleged discovery of water vapor, the researchers also learned more about the lunar soil through their experiments than was previously known.

Some of the hydrogen-rich minerals found in the Chang’e 5 lunar soil samples, for example, appear to have been formed by billions of years of exposure to sunlight. When heated, these compounds produce not only water vapor, but also iron and ceramic glass.

Just one gram of lunar soil is said to be able to produce between 51 and 76 milligrams of water. Accordingly, the researchers said, a ton of such soil could produce 13 gallons of water.

The team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences is, according to SCMPwhich proposes that future lunar bases could heat lunar dust by focusing sunlight with concave mirrors. The iron created as a byproduct of this method could also be used to build electronics, scientists say, and the molten soil could potentially be used to build structures as well.

While the researchers cautioned that further studies are needed to determine the feasibility of harvesting water on the moon using this new heating method, the results are groundbreaking nonetheless – and there is little doubt that China’s space rivals are fuming at not being the first to make this discovery.

More about the moon: Chinese scientists are working on a magnetic launch system to transport cargo from the lunar surface to Earth