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Image source, Reuters
With the help of an aerial observatory, the scientists detected water molecules on the Moon.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, for its acronym in English) confirmed this Monday that they detected the presence of the liquid in several craters of the Earth’s natural satellite.
“We don’t know yet if we can use it as a resource, but knowing about the water on the Moon is key to our Artemis exploration plans,” said Jim Bridenstine, the head of NASA.
The findings were made on the illuminated surface of the Moon with the help of the SOFIA observatory, an airborne infrared telescope, the largest of its kind in the world.
The discoveries were published Monday in two articles in the magazine Nature astronomy.
How did they detect the water?
The first of these studies refers to the discovery made thanks to SOFIA.
This observatory, aboard a modified Boeing 747 aircraft, flies above 99% of Earth’s atmosphere, thus offering a nearly unobstructed view of the solar system.
Image source, POT
NASA wants to establish a permanent base on the Moon.
By bouncing infrared light from the telescope off the Moon’s surface, scientists can decode exactly what that light reflects.
Different substances appear with different colors and, in this case, the researchers they detected the exact “characteristic” color of water molecules.
The researchers believe that the detected water is stored in lunar glass bubbles or between grains on the surface that protect it from the harsh environment.
In the other study, the scientists looked for permanently shaded areas, known as cold traps, where water could be permanently trapped.
The researchers found these cold traps at both poles and concluded that “approximately 40,000 square meters of the lunar surface has the ability to trap water.”
What does this discovery mean?
While there had previously been signs of water on the lunar surface, these new discoveries suggest that the compound is more abundant than previously thought.
“It gives us more options for possible sources of water on the Moon,” Hannah Sargeant, a planetary scientist at the Open University in Milton Keynes, told BBC News.
There are quite a few missions to the polar regions of the Moon scheduled for the next few years. But in the longer term, there are plans to build a permanent habitation on the lunar surface.
“Where to put a lunar base is mostly focused on where the water is,” Sargeant added.
“We are already working on ideas for a moon base and where we are going to go. We were going to go to the moon anyway. But this gives us more options and makes it an even more exciting place to go. It is more promising.” added.
Jacob Bleacher of NASA’s Human Exploration Directorate said researchers had yet to understand the nature of the aqueous deposits. This would help them determine how accessible they would be to future lunar explorers.
Experts say the extraction of the water could lay the foundation for a future lunar economy.
It would be much cheaper to produce rocket fuel on the Moon than to send it from Earth.
So when future lunar explorers want to return to Earth or travel to other destinations, they could turn water into hydrogen and oxygen, elements commonly used to power space vehicles.
Therefore, refueling on the Moon could reduce the cost of space travel and make a lunar base more affordable.
Dr Sargeant explained that this meant developing “a more sustainable way of conducting space exploration.”
With information from Victoria Gill, BBC News science correspondent.
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