The Moon is a key element in space exploration. One of our next goals is to visit Earth’s satellite and establish a permanent base there. The Moon also offers access to various resources, including opportunities to produce water and fuel in space.

Water is a vital element and space exploration depends on the ability to recycle or produce water in space. We won’t get to Mars and beyond without reliably producing enough water for the entire crew.

Researchers from China may have taken a major step toward a permanent mission on the moon. They transformed lunar soil into large amounts of water using soil brought back from the moon by the Chang’e-5 mission in 2020.

According to the Chinese state broadcaster Video surveillanceabove ReutersResearchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have discovered that minerals in the lunar soil contain large amounts of hydrogen. When the soil is heated to very high temperatures, it reacts with other elements. The chemical reaction produces water vapor, which can then be collected.

Scientists say they can produce about 51 to 76 kg of water. That’s more than a hundred 500 ml bottles of water and could be enough to meet the daily drinking water needs of 50 people.

According to most recommendations, humans need to drink at least two liters of water a day. It is unclear whether a ton of lunar soil would be enough for this. We get water from food, but this also requires water for processing.

Additionally, it’s unclear what kind of energy is required to produce water or what “other elements” are used in the chemical reactions that create the water vapor. These are important details for turning the water-production process into one that can be easily reproduced on the Moon and other locations.

Video surveillance Comments that Reuters Quotes suggest that the scientific discovery represents a major breakthrough for China’s space interests:

After three years of intensive research and repeated verification, a brand new method of using lunar soil to produce large quantities of water has been discovered, which is expected to provide an important design basis for the construction of future scientific research stations and space stations on the Moon.

As Reuters points out that the US and China are in a race to conquer the moon and its resources. China wants to build a “base station” on the moon by 2035. A decade later, China plans to place a space station around the moon. Both projects would require significant water sources, whether it be treated water or water produced using the “brand new method” discovered by the Chinese researchers.

Finding or creating water in space would also be an important mission objective for producing the hydrogen rocket fuel we need to reach Mars and other destinations. If China’s method works as described, scientists could convert lunar soil into rocket fuel. However, this is pure speculation.

Further investigations will probably follow. For this water experiment, the researchers used lunar soil from the side of the moon facing the earth. China also explored the far side of the moon with the Chang’e-6 mission. It brought back further samples from the lunar surface, which always faces away from the earth.