It seems like once we got to the Moon we forgot about it and started dreaming even bigger with our space exploration, but that could not have been further from the truth. There is a lot of research going on involving Moon stones and Lunar science is quite the respected discipline. But while our interest in other planets seems to be focused on colonization, we already know that we cannot live on the Moon, so the focus is more on what resources we can extract that would be useful here on Earth, and the answer seems to be, quite surprisingly, water.
There is a very obvious water crisis here on Earth. Despite our planet being covered in it, very little of it is usable for drinking purposes and very year desert areas seem to grow and no amount of eco initiatives seem to help with our water management and water conservation. Water is one of our most important natural resources, and short of making more, there is little that can be done to solve our current issue. And that is precisely what could happen thanks to the Moon.
How the Moon could help with Earth’s water crisis
A group of Chinese scientists decided to study Moon rocks to see if they held any potential uses on Earth and they stumbled upon something that they had not initially considered. This started in August 2024, when a team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences discovered that the layer of dusty soil on the Moon, the lunar regolith, is not actually dry and it actually holds a significant amount of water that can be quite easily extracted.
Until now, Moon rocks had not been really contemplated as sources of water, but it turns out that minerals like ilmenite, which are common in lunar soil, soak up hydrogen from solar winds and that when those minerals get super hot, like over 1,000°C, they react with the hydrogen and let out water vapor.
They hold so much water that one ton of lunar soil could give you more than 50 kilograms of water, enough to meet the daily needs of around 50 people. The potential is there, but not just to solve a problem on Earth, but also to open doors on future lunar missions. It opens up the possibility of surviving and working on the Moon long-term without having to take water from earth, using the concept of “in-situ resource utilization” or ISRU for short.
This would be a huge help as it would help save on resources and cargo space and it is something that NASA, the European Space Agency, and China’s CNSA are hoping to be able to take advantage of in the future.
For more good news, the Chinese team that made the discovery also figured out a way to release water from the soil at just 200°C under certain conditions, which is much more practical and cost-effective.
Although it is an important discovery for space exploration, it is even more important here on Earth. The techniques used could be extrapolated and implemented in places on Earth that are just as dry, like deserts with no nearby water sources. If scientists can replicate this kind of hydrogen-mineral interaction, we might have a new way to generate water where it is needed most. This could solve a lot of deforestation issues and contribute to all the desertification initiatives in a very meaningful way and help save time and money since water would not need to be transported to these areas.
Solving space problems is quite exciting, but it is even more so when the solutions could also help people here on Earth that are struggling with how to solve everyday problems that affect the whole of humankind.