A Chinese lunar probe found traces of water in samples of the moon's soil, scientists have said, as the country pushes its ambitious space program into high gear.

A Chinese lunar probe found traces of water in samples of the moon’s soil.

A NASA infrared detector already confirmed in 2020 the existence of water on the moon, while scientists found traces of water in recent analyses of samples dating from the 1960s and 1970s.

But the Chang’e-5 samples are from a “much higher latitude”, providing new clues as to what form water takes on the moon’s surface.

The samples suggest that "water molecules can persist in sunlit areas of the moon in the form of hydrated salts.