Chang’e 5 lander confirms water on the Moon

Saturday, June 18, 2022 - 01:00

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Indications that water could be present in the rocks gathered by Chang'e 5 lander on the Moon have been confirmed by testing on Earth, Chinese scientists have reported. They've shared their findings in an article, published this week in the magazine Nature Communications.

據(jù)中國科學(xué)家報道，“嫦娥五號”著陸器在月球上收集的巖石中可能存在水的跡象已經(jīng)在地球上的測試中得到證實。他們在本周發(fā)表在《自然通訊》雜志上的一篇文章中分享了他們的發(fā)現(xiàn)。

The lunar lander touched down on the Moon in December 2020, gathering some 1.7 kilograms (over 3.5lbs) of rocks and lunar soil, known as regolith.

月球著陸器于2020年12月在月球著陸，收集了約1.7公斤(超過3.5磅)的巖石和月球土壤，即風(fēng)化層。

Regolith：/?reɡ?l?θ/n. [地質(zhì)] 風(fēng)化層；表皮土；土被

The craft also used its on-board instruments to measure the chemical composition of the samples that it collected.

該飛船還使用其自帶的儀器來測量它收集樣本的化學(xué)成分。

This data allowed Chinese researchers to suggest that molecules of water could be present at about 120 parts per million (ppm) in some type of moon rocks and at 180ppm in others. Now, a team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences has confirmed the presence of water in the samples by directly studying the cargo that Chang'e-5 brought back to Earth. The soil analyzed by the scientists turned out to be relatively dry – even by lunar standards – showing levels of water at 28.5 parts per million. However, they also discovered that the mineral apatite was among the samples to boast an H2O content of 179ppm, which was consistent with earlier forecasts.

這一數(shù)據(jù)使中國研究人員提出，在某些類型的月球巖石中，水分子可能存在約120ppm，而在其他類型的月球巖石中，水分子可能存在約180ppm。現(xiàn)在，中國科學(xué)院的一個研究小組通過直接研究嫦娥五號帶回地球的樣本，確認(rèn)了樣品中存在水?？茖W(xué)家們分析的土壤相對干燥——即使以月球的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)衡量——顯示水的含量為28.5ppm。然而，他們還發(fā)現(xiàn)，磷灰石是其中一種具有179ppm的水含量的樣品，這與早期的預(yù)測一致。

parts per million (ppm) 百萬分之，百萬分率

molecule /?m?l??kju?l/分子??...the hydrogen bonds between water?molecules. ?…水分子之間的氫連接。

apatite/?ap?ta?t/ 磷灰石

Telescope and satellite observations have long led scientists to suspect that water existed on the Moon, as either hydroxyl?or H20 in the rocks.

長期以來，通過望遠(yuǎn)鏡和衛(wèi)星觀測，科學(xué)家們一直懷疑月球上存在水，即巖石中的羥基或水。

hydroxyl?/ha?'dr?ksa?l; ha?'dr?ks?l/n. 羥基，氫氧基

英文鏈接：http://www.dailynews.lk/2022/06/18/world/281153/chang%E2%80%99e-5-lander-confirms-water-moon

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