Is there water on the moon or not? This question has been debated for more than half a century. It is widely believed that there is no atmosphere on the Moon, that the thermal capacity and conductivity of the lunar rocks are very low, and that the temperature difference between day and night on the surface is so great that it is difficult for water to exist. A large amount of lunar soil brought back from the Moon by the Apollo program also confirms that the soil on the Moon's surface is so dry that there are no water molecules or hydroxyl groups present in the minerals, not to mention liquid water.
Therefore, American scientists concluded that there was no water on the lunar surface. Although the Soviet Union later found traces of water in the lunar soil, it was not enough to disprove this assertion. The emergence of spectroscopic detectors has revealed more evidence of water on the Moon, but no country has been able to detect water in situ on the lunar surface.
Recently, Change 5 made a major discovery on the lunar surface. By carrying the lunar mineral spectrometer, it was found that there is a large amount of water under the surface of the sampling area, with an average of about 120 grams of water in 1 ton of lunar soil. Although this data is insignificant, it is extremely rare for the Moon and is sufficient to disprove the previous assertions of American scientists.
It is understood that the water found by Change-4 is not liquid, but hydroxyl groups are present in minerals, which can form liquid water after heating. Further research found that the moon rock layer under the lunar soil contains more water, enough to prove that the moon does exist water, but due to changes in the external environment and evaporation, in the formation of the beginning of the moon, there was a large amount of liquid water inside.
Experts say Change 5 is the only mission to retrieve samples and obtain in situ spectra of the moon's surface, providing the most direct evidence for studying the formation, evolution, and structure of the moon. The Moon is the closest celestial body to the Earth, only 380,000 km away, and has a solid rocky soil layer, making it an ideal future migration point for humans. The Russian and Chinese space agencies are already working on a lunar base and expect to build a lunar surface base or near-Earth orbit staging area within the next 15 years to provide a stable base for lunar and space exploration. The discovery of hydroxyl radicals in the lunar soil offers the possibility of extracting water from the Moon in the future, which will greatly reduce the material dependence on the surface and provide more possibilities for future lunar migration.
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