CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The soil and rocks brought back from the moon’s mysterious far side They suggest it might be drier than the hemisphere that always faces Earth, as Chinese researchers reported on Wednesday.
However, they warned that additional samples are necessary to obtain a clearer image.
A deeper comprehension of the abundance of water The composition of the lunar mantle might shed light on the Moon's evolution, as pointed out by the researchers. However, this could also mean that astronauts should remain near their landing site. close side of the moon as currently planned.
China was the first nation to achieve a landing on the moon’s far side Last year, the Chang'e 6 mission collected volcanic rocks and soil from the vast South Pole-Aitken basin, which stands as one of the most extensive impact craters in our solar system.
Sen Hu from the Chinese Academy of Sciences mentioned that his team was granted 5 grams of lunar soil samples. They proceeded to choose 578 particles for an in-depth examination utilizing electron microscopes.
They assessed the water content to be below 1.5 micrograms per gram, placing it on the drier spectrum compared to previous findings from the Moon's near side over several decades. The measurements from these near-side samples have varied between 1 microgram and 200 micrograms per gram.
Considering the restricted sample size, it remains unclear just how prevalent this arid state could be across the region, as mentioned by the researchers in their paper published in the journal Nature.
Hu stated in an email that more samples from the far side are needed for testing and to further investigate the amount of water present.
The collision responsible for forming this basin might have ejected water molecules primarily towards the near side, thereby reducing their concentration on the far side. Alternatively, the difference could lie in how these water resources are distributed vertically across the two halves of the moon.
If verified, these discoveries won't significantly change NASA’s strategy to launch astronauts to the lunar south pole, an area thought to contain large deposits of ice in craters that never see sunlight. This icy H2O could serve as a resource for hydration, food preparation, and propellant production.
NASA aims to send four astronauts around the moon next year under its Artemis program, the successor to Apollo, which put 12 men on the moon from 1969 through 1972. That would be followed by a landing near the lunar south pole by astronauts no earlier than 2027. China is seeking its own astronaut moon landing by 2030.
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