NASA Discovers Water on the Sunlit Surface of the Moon

Using NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA).

Matt Cardy
WAVYPACK® Community

NASA has discovered water on the sunlit surface of the Moon, this is a first in the agency’s history. They’ve long suspected that the moon contained water but weren’t able to confirm it until now. For years they have believed it that ice existed on certain permanently shadowed portions of the Moon, which makes this discovery by the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) even more groundbreaking.

NASA found the water in Clavius Crater, one of the largest observable craters on the Moon’s surface. Yet the amount discovered was equal to what you’d find in a 12-ounce bottle of water, its also trapped within a cubic meter of soil. To give you a scale, NASA stated that the Sahara desert has 100 times more water than what they’ve found using SOFIA. NASA states its importance and that the discovery raises many important questions despite its small amount.

“We had indications that H2O – the familiar water we know – might be present on the sunlit side of the Moon, Now we know it is there. This discovery challenges our understanding of the lunar surface and raises intriguing questions about resources relevant for deep space exploration.”

“Water is a valuable resource, for both scientific purposes and for use by our explorers,” added chief exploration scientist for NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate Jacob Bleacher. “If we can use the resources at the Moon, then we can carry less water and more equipment to help enable new scientific discoveries.”

We’re interested to learn more and discover what this means for space exploration and the moon. We’ll keep you posted when we learn more. Lastly, for more tech news, Sony Unveils the Dedicated PlayStation 5 Remote for Media Space.

 

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