Trillions of pounds of water may be strewn across the moon, trapped in tiny glass beads that could have formed when asteroids struck the lunar surface, according to a new study. The findings, laid out in a study published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience, were pieced together by scientists in China who analyzed the first lunar soil samples to be returned to Earth since the 1970s.

The research points to an answer for a question scientists have been pondering for years as they’ve attempted to pin down exactly how water is stored on the moon — especially in regions outside the lunar poles, where water ice may exist in greater abundance. Essentially, the study fills in some gaps in a theory about a lunar water cycle.“

To sustain a water cycle at the surface of the Moon, there should be a hydrated layer (reservoir) at depth in lunar soils,” according to the study. “However, finding this water reservoir has remained elusive, despite several studies having investigated the water inventory of fine mineral grains in lunar soils.”

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/27/world/water-moon-lunar-sample-chang-e-5-scn