NASA: The Moon Has Water
NASA left the world grappling with excitement last week when it announced that it would be revealing an “exciting discovery about the Moon” in the forthcoming days, and it did not disappoint: the moon contains pockets of water.
The news – which was shared via the American space agency’s ’s official Twitter account on Monday, 26 October – stated that water molecules had been found in the Clavius Crater, one of the largest craters that can be seen from Earth.
NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy confirmed that it had detected signature evidence of the liquid in the crater, which challenges scientists’ understanding of the lunar surface and also raises questions about resources for deep space exploration.
Water is universally accepted as a key component of life, and its scarcity makes it a critical resource. This will make the next mission to the Moon in 2024 doubly important, and will make establishing a human presence there a possibility.
Several studies have put forward ideas of “cold traps”: regions that are forever covered in shadow as the Sun never shines there.
Dr Paul Hayne, head of one of the studies conducted at University of Colorado, Boulder, said: “If we’re right, water is going to be more accessible for drinking water, for rocket fuel, everything that NASA needs water for.”
