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       Scientists have analyzed lunar soil samples returned by China’s Chang’e 5 spacecraft and discovered that the lunar glass sphere contains water.
       Chinese researchers may have discovered billions of tons of water inside strange glass spheres buried on the moon that could serve as a water source for future lunar bases, a new study suggests.
       A new analysis published March 28 in the journal Nature Geoscience shows that tiny glass spheres were collected from lunar soil samples and returned to Earth by China’s Chang’e-5 mission in December 2020. The reserves could be so abundant that up to 330 billion tons (300 billion metric tons) of water could be stored on the moon’s surface.
       Glass spheres, also known as impact glass or microtektites, form when meteorites hit the moon at speeds of tens to hundreds of thousands of miles per hour. The impact causes the lunar crust to explode onto the lunar surface. In these plumes, silicate minerals are heated to melting temperatures by the impact, fusing into tiny glass spheres that are scattered as debris across the surrounding landscape.
       The lunar soil contains oxygen, so these spheres contain oxygen too. When struck by ionized hydrogen atoms (protons) from the solar wind, the oxygen in the molten sphere reacts to form water, which is drawn into the silicate capsule. Over time, some of the spheres became buried under particles of lunar dust called regolith, trapped underground with water still trapped inside.
       At the right temperature, some of the spheres would release water into the lunar atmosphere and onto the surface, acting as reservoirs that slowly replenish the water over time, the researchers said. That could make the spheres an ideal source of water, hydrogen, and oxygen for space agencies like NASA and the China National Space Administration (CNSA), which want to build bases on the moon. The CNSA expects the lunar base project to be completed as early as 2029.
       “If we wanted to extract water from falling glass beads for future lunar exploration, we would first collect them, then boil them in an oven and cool the released water vapor. Finally, you would have liquid water in a bottle,” he said. Study co-author Hu Sen, a planetary geologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Geology and Geophysics, told Live Science via email. “Another advantage is that glass bead impacts are distributed uniformly in the lunar soil across the globe from the equator to the poles and from east to west.”
       China’s Chang’e-5 mission, named after the Chinese moon goddess, is the fifth in a series designed to lay the groundwork for future human landings on the moon. The mission landed on the moon, retrieved material from the lunar surface, and returned to Earth in December 2020.