Scientists Find A Way To Unlock Water From Moon Dust
Language
Reading Level
Listen to Article
Alignment
Water is crucial for setting up a human base on the Moon. But if researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences succeed, this will no longer be a hurdle. They have found a way to produce large amounts of water using the hydrogen in lunar soil.
For their study, Professor Junqiang Wang and his team used lunar soil samples collected during the Chang'e-5 mission in 2020. They used concave mirrors to focus sunlight onto the dirt, heating it to over 1,700°F (926°C). This intense heat caused a chemical reaction between the hydrogen and other elements in the soil, releasing water vapor. The vapor was then collected and condensed into liquid water.
Even more exciting, heating just one gram of the lunar soil produced 51 to 76 milligrams of water. Scaled up, one ton of Moon dirt could produce over 100 pounds (45 kg) of drinkable water. This is enough to sustain up to 50 astronauts daily.
Beyond drinking water, the extracted water could support plant growth in lunar greenhouses. This would ensure a reliable food source for long-term missions. Additionally, astronauts could split water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen. The oxygen could be used for breathing and the hydrogen as rocket fuel.
The researchers, who published their findings in the journal Innovation in late 2024, still face some challenges. Since the method depends on solar energy, water extraction would only be possible during the two-week-long lunar day. It would completely halt during the lunar night, which lasts just as long.
Water production would also vary by location due to differences in soil composition. The team hopes to test their method on samples collected from various lunar regions during future missions. If these hurdles can be overcome, the ability to produce water on the Moon could be a game-changer. It would reduce costs and make long-term lunar exploration more feasible.
Resources: Sciencedaily.com, Zmescience.com, Reuters.com
Get the Workbook for this article!
Workbook contains: Article, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking Questions, Vocabulary in Context (+ answers), Multiple Choice Quiz (+ answers), Parts of Speech Quiz (+ answers), Vocabulary Game (+ answers)Cite Article
Learn Keywords in this Article
29 Comments
charlesr4 monthsid live there so long the muscle deteiriation woud ake me stephen hawking
goldendoodlemom4 monthsbro why does it have to be so complicated? Why don't we just live on earth and have a life of uninterrupted peace? No war or fight. Just peace!
galadriel4 monthsso cool this is great
ocicatpacific4 monthswho else is using this 4 current event assesment?
spinn3 monthsIm considering it
- cliiiid4 monthsInteresting!
andreak94 monthsO.M.G. imagine in like 100000000 years and the Earth blows apart and we live n the moon because we have all these resources!!!!- ocicatpacific4 monthsby then we i think we could make food from anything
jejothedevourer4 monthsin a hundred million years? Maybe Mars is the second choice because our population keeps growing, so like 10 billion people can fit in Mars.
beachgurly20124 monthsthe moon is too small, and there is not enough room on it for 8 billion people. But that is a pretty smart idea.
852128sophie4 monthsOh, that's a great idea!
bigthumpywumpy4 monthsI don't remember how exactly they get solar energy, but if it is from solar panels, then maybe they could set up solar panels on different sides of the moon so that the energy is always distributed.
x-tweem4 months5th comment! I like space and I love water so this is good :)
celticsgod04 monthsNice!!! I'm doing this for my current events assignment!!!- egbeavers4 monthsso cool! space is awesome!