Water trapped in volcanic glass under Moon’s surface

LIVING on the Moon may be easier than first thought, after scientists discovered large amounts of water trapped beneath the surface.

It was generally assumed that the Moon was a fairly dry lump of rock, although ice still exists at the poles.

Both Nasa and the European Space Agency are keen to establish a lunar base to act as a stepping stone for the rest of the solar system, and have been looking into whether water could be mined. However, bases would not be sited near the poles, and so transporting water back would be difficult.

Researchers at Brown University in the US began to suspect there might be more water than thought after re-examining volcanic glass beads brought back by the Apollo 15 and 17 missions.

They discovered that the beads contain similar amounts of water as basalt rocks on Earth, suggesting that parts of the Moon’s crust contain as much water as our own planet.

Although it is only a small amount, around 0.5 per cent of the weight of the beads, such glassy deposits are large and abundant on the Moon.

“Other studies have suggested the presence of water ice in shadowed regions at the lunar poles, but the pyroclastic deposits are at locations that may be easier to access,” said Dr Shuai Li, formerly of Brown University, and now at the University of Hawaii.

The research was published in the journal Nature Geoscience.