Although the incident was covered in numerous domestic media with headlines such as “Chinese scientists have discovered large amounts of water on the moon,” the reality is that, as the original scientific study shows, Chinese researchers have proposed a method to provide the large amounts of water that would be needed to maintain permanent lunar bases.

After three years of intensive studies and repeated analysis, Chinese researchers have discovered that a mineral in the lunar soil contains large amounts of hydrogen. When heated to over 1,000 degrees Celsius, the lunar soil releases the water in the form of steam.

This may not be as sensational as the headlines in the home media suggest, but it does show one way to provide permanent lunar bases with the water they need. It is impractical to transport enough water from the Earth to the Moon, considering that it costs tens of thousands of dollars to rocket each kilogram of material there.

The Chinese scientists’ proposal suggests a feasible way to provide the amount of water needed to operate future lunar bases. According to their calculations, each ton of lunar soil could yield about 50 kiloliters of water, enough to supply 50 people for 24 hours. The melted lunar soil could be used as bricks to build lunar bases.

The proposal would not have been possible without China’s overall technological progress, such as the series of Chang’e lunar missions that brought back lunar soil samples for research. Participating scientists included scientists from the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology & Engineering and Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the China Academy of Space Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Nanjing University and the Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory. Such groundbreaking achievements by Chinese research teams not only show that they have sharpened their skills but also strengthened their cooperation.