Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Chang'e-5 Lunar Lander Seeks Water
Chinese scientists published results of in-situ detection of water signals on the moon by the Chang'e-5 lunar lander.
Chinese scientists published results of in-situ detection of water signatures on the Moon by the Chang'e-5 lunar lander. Newly released video spotlights the finding at:https://t.co/m2axj3iRyA pic.twitter.com/hWeUWaLeqR
— marsboy (@marsboy) January 9, 2022
Chinese scientists published results of in-situ detection of water signals on the moon by the Chang'e-5 lunar lander, lending new evidence to the dryness of the satellite. The study published on Saturday in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances revealed that the lunar soil at the landing site contains less than 120 ppm water or 120g water per ton, and vesicular rock carries 180 ppm, which are much drier than that on Earth.A device onboard the lunar lander measured the spectral reflectance of the regolith and the rock and detected water on the spot for the first time. The water content can be estimated since the water molecule or hydroxyl absorbs at a frequency of about three micrometers, according to researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
It was the solar wind that contributed to the most humidity of lunar soil as it brought hydrogen that makes up the water, the researchers said. The additional 60 ppm water in the rock may originate from the lunar interior, according to the researchers.
Therefore, the rock is estimated to hail from an older, more humid basaltic unit before being ejected onto the landing site to be picked up by the lunar lander. The study revealed that the moon had turned drier within a certain period, owing probably to the degassing of its mantle reservoir.
The Chang'e-5 spacecraft landed on one of the youngest mare basalts located at a mid-high latitude on the moon. It measured water on the spot and retrieved samples weighing 1,731 grams.
Science fiction authors have been thinking about water on the moon, and what it might be used for, for a long time. In his 1931 classic A Daring Trip to Mars, Max Valier described looking for water on the moon and harvesting it for use as fuel:
The engineer had judged correctly for the ground on which the space ship had landed consisted of ice..."...Now be quick, get out the solar power apparatus and send it down to us from the air-lock by the crane."
A huge parabolic mirror built of light sheet silver collected the intense heat of the sun and first melted a small amount of ice in a closed container. The water thus formed - which cannot exist free on the airless moon - was heated to boiling, and provided the steam for a little turbine. This was connected with a generator of electric energy, whose current was used for the electrolytic dissociation of melted ice in special containers.
The entire system was of such dimensions that in four terrestrial days it would exactly fill the tanks of the ship with liquid hydrogen and oxygen in the right proportions.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 1/5/2022)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Space Tech ")
Is China Mining Helium-3 On The Moon's Farside?
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.' -
Solitary Black Hole Wanders In Space
'...the Hole is something like a vortex or a whirlpool?' - Frank K. Kelly, 1935.
Spaceplane From Virgin Atlantic
'ZARNAK, YOU'RE TO COMMAND A SCOUTING EXPEDITION --- FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT!'
Taikonauts Exercise In China's Tiangong Space Station
'Joe got out the gravity-simulator harnesses...' - Murray Leinster, 1953.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Russians Create Robot Tank Platoons
'The remotely-operated robot tank is an old idea...'
3D-Printed Exoskeleton Learns From Your Hand
'...small electric motors at the principal joints worked the prosthetic framework by means of steel cables...'
Smartwatch Powered By Slime Mold
'Living protoplasm incorporated into the Ampek F-a2 recording system...'
Unmanned Boats Attack At Sea
'The autofreighter smashed into the boat...'
Carpentopod Walking Table
'Twoflower's Luggage, which was currently ambling along on its little legs...'
Iron Drone Raider Counter-UAV Operations
'You've got an aggressive machine up in the air now.'
SpaceX Rocket Shuttle Point-To-Point On Earth
'He came to as the ship went into free flight, arching in a high parabola over the plains...'
Quaise Uses Beams Of Energy To Dig Geothermal Wells
'The peculiar quality of this light, which gave it its great preeminence over all other penetrating rays...'
Robots Repair And Modify Themselves
'The overworked leg motor would have to cool down before he could work on it...'
Waymo And Tesla 'Autonomous Cabs' Are Piloted By Remote Drivers
‘Where to, sport?’ the starter at cab relay asked.
Robot Janitors Get To Work
'A few mechanical cleaning devices crept here and there...'
Robots Learn To Install Charged Batteries Into Themselves
This is nothing new for science fiction fans!
Robot Rabbits Entice Pythons
'That little robot rabbit knew what it was talking about...'
LLM 'Cognitive Core' Now Evolving
'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
Has Elon Musk Given Up On Mars?
'There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.'
Bacteria Turns Plastic Into Pain Relief? That Gives Me An Idea.
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
