Chinese scientists find water traces in lunar samples

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Chinese scientists find water traces in lunar samples (Image: Pixabay)
Chinese scientists find water traces in lunar samples (Image: Pixabay)

New Delhi : Chinese scientists have traced the signs of water in samples retrieved from a lava plain on the moon. The research will help in better understanding about the formation of moon.

According to research published in Nature Communications, the scientists analyzed remnants of solidified lava retrieved by an uncrewed Chinese mission from the region known as "Oceans of storm". The water has been found in the sample in the form of hydroxyl.

Hydroxyl, comprising a single hydrogen atom and an oxygen atom versus two hydrogen to one oxygen in a water molecule, was also found in samples retrieved by NASA decades ago.

China's lunar mission Change'-5 mission - named after the mythical Chinese goddess of the moon, had returned to Earth in December last year with 1,731 gram of sample from the moon.

With an objective to carry more study on presence of water, China is scheduled to carry more missions. Presence of water on moon can help in understanding the formation of the planet.

A decade ago, same Hydroxyl content was also found in the samples retrieved by American space agency NASA.