Chinese scientists release new findings on lunar soil research

After three years of in-depth research and repeated verification, a scientific research team composed of the Ningbo Institute of Materials, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and other units has discovered a new method of using lunar soil to produce large quantities of water, which is expected to provide important design basis for the construction of future lunar research stations and space stations.

After in-depth research and repeated verification, researchers found that the lunar soil minerals have stored a large amount of hydrogen due to billions of years of solar wind radiation. After being heated to high temperatures, hydrogen will undergo an oxidation-reduction reaction with the iron oxides in the minerals to produce elemental iron and a large amount of water. When the temperature rises to above 1000°C, the lunar soil will melt, and the water generated by the reaction will be released in the form of water vapor.

After a variety of experimental technical analyses, the research team confirmed that about 51-76 mg of water can be produced in 1 gram of lunar soil. Based on this calculation, 1 ton of lunar soil will produce about 51-76 kg of water, which is equivalent to more than 100 bottles of 500 ml of bottled water, which can basically meet the daily drinking water needs of 50 people.