Unexpected Lunar Water Discovered

Easier colonization possible?

Lunar Water Reservoir Discovered in Glass Impact Beads

Tiny glass beads scattered across the Moon may contain enough water to sustain future crewed missions.

By Ryan Whitwam March 28, 2023No humans have set foot on the Moon for more than 50 years, but the coming decade could see multiple crewed landings and the construction of an orbiting lunar station. Harvesting water from the Moon could make a permanent human presence easier to maintain, but where will we find it? A new study from the Chinese Chang’e rover team suggests there might be usable water everywhere on the Moon.

In the past, scientists believed the Moon was just a big ball of dust, but robotic missions eventually confirmed water ice exists in shadowy craters. Water also appears to evaporate from lunar soil when exposed to sunlight. New data from the Chang’e 5 mission reveals the details.

Chang’e 5, which landed on the Moon in 2020, was China's first lunar sample return mission. It sent back 3.7 pounds (1.7 kilograms) of lunar regolith, some collected from a meter below the surface. Throughout the samples, the researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences spotted glass beads resulting from meteorite impacts. The researchers analyzed the chemical composition and structure of the impact glass, finding they can be up to 0.2% water by mass. In absolute terms, the researchers calculate that lunar soil has between 300 billion and 270 trillion kilograms of water locked up in glass beads. If collected in one place, it could fill Lake Tahoe almost twice over at the high end of the estimate.  ... ' 

Comm Network for the Moon

Spreading Space Networks.

Lockheed Spinoff Plans to Build Communication Network for the Moon

Crescent Space will begin deploying its Parsec satellites in orbit on the Moon in 2025.

By Ryan Whitwam March 30, 2023

Humankind has been relegated to low-Earth orbit for decades, but that will change with the Artemis Program. NASA and its partners plan to establish a permanent human lunar presence, which will require infrastructure. Lockheed Martin has announced the formation of a new company called Crescent Space to start building it. Its goal is to deploy a satellite constellation in orbit of the Moon to provide communication and navigation services.

The network will be called Parsec, consisting of an indeterminate number of nodes built on established Lockheed Martin tech. Parsec will use Lockheed's Curio SmallSat platform, along with the SmartSat software and COMPASS/Horizon mission planning system. By placing enough of these compact satellites in orbit, it will be possible to maintain contact with all missions orbiting the Moon and any assets on the surface. As a bonus, the network will be able to offer accurate lunar positioning in the same way the GPS network does on Earth. So, even as the Moon becomes more congested, spacecraft and surface equipment can steer clear of other missions.  ... ' 

Race to the Moon?

 I continue to be interested in the supply chain processes involved.

China and NASA are racing to the moon. Side-by-side photos hint NASA has the edge, but China's secrecy makes the race hard to call.    By Morgan McFall-Johnsen Nov 30, 2022 in BusinessInsider

two rocket launches at night split image with Long March-2F on the left and nasa space launch system on the right

China's Shenzhou 15 mission, left, lifted off on Tuesday, one week after NASA launched its Artemis I mission to the moon, right. CNS/AFP/Getty Images; NASA/Joel Kowsky

China and NASA are racing toward the first human moon landing in 50 years.

Two recent launches suggest NASA has an edge, but China could be close behind.

Side-by-side images show how NASA and China are overlapping in the new space race for the moon. ... ' 

China Discovers Fusion Fuel on Moon

How real are the claims here?  This could lead to considerable Space mining efforts as fusion capabilities progress. 

China Discovers Stunning Crystal on the Moon,  Nuclear Fusion Fuel for Limitless Energy

The find makes China the third country to discover a new mineral on the Moon, and the country says it's analyzed the soil for rare helium-3.  By Becky Ferreira

China has discovered a crystal from the Moon made of a previously unknown mineral, while also confirming that the lunar surface contains a key ingredient for nuclear fusion, a potential form of effectively limitless power that harnesses the same forces that fuel the Sun and other stars.

The crystal is part of a batch of lunar samples collected by China’s Chang’e-5 mission, which landed on the Moon in 2020, loaded up with about four pounds of rocks, and delivered them to Earth days later. After carefully sifting through the samples—which are the first Moon rocks returned to Earth since 1976—scientists at the Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology spotted a single crystal particle, with a diameter smaller than the width of a human hair.

The crystal is made of the novel mineral Changesite—(Y), named after the Chinese Moon goddess, Chang’e, that also inspired China’s series of lunar missions. It was confirmed as a new mineral on Friday by the Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification (CNMNC) of the International Mineralogical Association (IMA), according to the Chinese state-run publication Global Times.

Changesite—(Y) is the sixth new mineral to be identified in Moon samples, and the first to be discovered by China. Before China, only the U.S. and Russia could claim to have discovered a new Moon mineral. It is a transparent crystal that formed in a region of the northern lunar near-face that was volcanically active about 1.2 billion years ago. ... '