Chinese Measure Water Density in Upper Layers of Lunar Soil

Chinese geologists used samples of lunar soil collected by the Chang'e-5 lunar probe to measure the water content in the upper layers of the moon's soil. These measurements indicated that only a small portion of the moisture arrives at the lunar soil from solar wind. The Chinese scientists published an article on this matter in the journal Nature Communications. These measurements helped determine the source of water and its compounds present in the upper soil layers in the region of lunar storms. The study of lunar soil showed that solar wind did not play a significant role in the process of forming water reserves in the upper soil layers of that lunar area. Li Zhonglai, the head of the Chang'e-5 lunar mission and director of the Beijing Space Lab, stated that astronomers previously believed that lunar soil contained no significant amounts of water. However, measurements from India's Chandrayaan-1 probe suddenly indicated the presence of ice in the moon's shadowed craters. American scientists had previously discovered water in soil samples brought back to Earth by the Apollo mission. Li Zhonglai noted that the water content in soil samples collected by the American Apollo mission did not exceed 28 molecules per million molecules. In contrast, the water content in the samples collected by the Chinese probe was more than six times higher than the American average.