China has taken a major step toward the possibility of life on the moon, with Chinese scientists claiming to have discovered water molecules in lunar soil for the first time.
According to media reports, Chinese scientists have claimed that the lunar soil samples brought back by the Chang'e 5 mission in 2020 have found hydrated minerals 'rich' with molecular water.
The findings, published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy, by scientists from the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), claimed that the unidentified mineral crystal, known as 'Unknown Named 'Qumri Madan'
(ULM-1), it is rich in water and ammonia molecules.
It's a discovery that could be fundamental to understanding how the Moon evolved and how its resources can be exploited. According to NASA, when American Apollo astronauts brought samples from the moon decades ago, the samples showed no signs of water, and scientists concluded that the lunar soil was completely dry.
But it should be noted that a NASA infrared detector already confirmed the presence of water on the moon in 2020, while scientists also found traces of water in recent analyzes of samples from the 1960s and 1970s.
What is ULM-1?
Scientists have claimed that ULM-1 (Unknown lunar mineral) found on the surface of the moon is a mineral rich in water and ammonium with the formula (NH4, K, Cs, Rb) MgCl3-6H2O .
The researchers found that the mineral's molecular formula contains as many as 6 crystals of water, and as for the mass of the sample, 41 percent of it consists of water molecules.
The mineral's composition and composition are similar to novograblenovite, a Russian volcanic mineral formed by the reaction of hot basalt and carnallite (a terrestrial evaporite mineral) with water-rich volcanic gases.
According to the scientists, the presence of ammonium indicates that the history of the elimination of excess or unwanted gas on the moon is more complex, and also shows how important it could be in terms of habitability on the moon.
The research results also suggest that water molecules may persist as hydrated salts in the moon's sunlit regions.
Chang'e-5
Chang'e-5 was the world's first mission to collect samples from the Moon in four decades, before Chang'e-4 made the historic first landing on the far side of the Moon in January 2019. And just last month, Chang'e-6 also completed its mission by collecting the first samples from the far side of the moon as part of a lunar probe.
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