Water found onmoon may let astronauts live there for extended time

There iswateron themoon’s surface, andicemaybe widespread in itsmany shadows, according to a pair of studies publishedMonday in the journal NatureAstronomy. The research confifirmslong- standing theories about the existence of lunar water that could someday enable astronauts to live there for extendedperiods.

One scientifific teamfoundthe telltale sign ofwatermolecules, perhaps bound upin glass, in a sunlit region. Anothergroup estimated thewidespread prevalence of tiny shadowed pockmarks on the lunar landscape, possible shelter for water ice overan area of15,000 square miles.

Moonwaterhas been eyed as a potential resourcebyNASA. Future explorersmaybe able to use lunarwaternot only toquench theirown thirst but to refuel their rockets.

In the2000s, a picture of awater- tingedmoonbegan to emerge. Careful studies of moon samples andspacecraft observations helpedoverturn the notion ofa total lunardesert. In2018, scientists foundice deposits at themoon’spoles. The lunar south pole in particular is believedto have reservoirs of potentially usefulwater in either ice ormolecular form— though certainlynot liquid.

The newdiscovery comes from remote observation of themoon’s surface byan infrared telescope on SOFIA, a mo di fifi ed Boeing 747 that scans themoon’s surface. The instruments aboardthe observatory detected subtleties in themoonlight at awavelength of 6microns, which the researchers believe is an unambiguous signal ofwater.