The latest discovery from samples of rocks brought by China’s Lunar Chang’e-6 mission reveals that the moon cloak contains less water on the side of the next side, suggesting that the “hidden hemisphere”, which is always turned away from Earth, tends to be very dried.
Published in the journal Nature on Wednesday (9)a new study of Chinese scientists found that the water content in each gram of the thick rock layer under the surface of the moon side is less than 2 micrograms, the smallest record ever reported.
Previous studies on samples on the near the moon have shown that lunar interior water concentrations could reach up to 200 micrograms per gram.
“Today, we measure the water content in the source region of the Chang’e 6 basaltic cloak, and is approximately 2 micrograms per grass. The result we got on the near the moon is about 7.5 micrograms per grass. This means that the water content in the moon -out side is even smaller than on the next side,” said Hu Sen, researcher at the Chinese Academy Institute of Geology and Geophysics.
The global scientific community widely believes that the moon was formed when an object of Mars sized with Earth 4.5 billion years ago. During this extremely hot impact event, the moon was believed to lose water and other volatile elements.
Over the past two decades, there has been debate on whether the water content on the cloak of the moon, the intermediate layer between its surface and its core is abundant or scarce, and all published estimates have been derived from samples on the near the moon.
The Lunar Chang’e-6 spacecraft, launched in early May 2024, landed at the South Aitken-Popo Basin and returned to Earth at the end of June with more than 1,935 grams from the first samples ever collected from the away and less known moon.
The lunar samples used in this study weigh 5 grams, consisting of 578 particles with sizes ranging from 0.1 to 1.5 millimeters. These particles were carefully sieved and manually selected, 28% of them basalt fragments of lunar seas.
The newly discovered disparity in the moon’s internal water content is of great meaning and can offer a new perspective on the formation and evolution of the moon.
“Water on the moon we are talking about is mainly water from the interior of the moon, which is related to the processes of its origin, evolution and formation. The future mission Chang’e 7 of our country will focus on issues related to lunar surface water,” said Hu.
The findings of this study also have significant implications for future lunar exploration tasks, as water on the moon is fundamental to long -term human establishment.
See also: Private company module successfully lands on the moon
Moon may have “turned inside out” during training, says new study
This content was originally published on a mission on the hidden side of the moon reveals information about satellite evolution on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
Charles Grill is a tech-savvy writer with over 3 years of experience in the field. He writes on a variety of technology-related topics and has a strong focus on the latest advancements in the industry. He is connected with several online news websites and is currently contributing to a technology-focused platform.
