The National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Monday confirmed the presence of water on the moon’s sunlit surface for the first tim...
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Monday confirmed the presence of water on the moon’s sunlit surface for the first time. The results, published in two studies in Nature Astronomy, showed that there may be more water on the moon’s surface than previously thought.
NASA made the discovery using the SOFIA flying observatory. “SOFIA has detected water molecules (H2O) in Clavius Crater, one of the largest craters visible from Earth, located in the Moon’s southern hemisphere,” NASA said in a statement. “Previous observations of the Moon’s surface detected some form of hydrogen, but were unable to distinguish between water and its close chemical relative, hydroxyl (OH).”
It added: “This discovery indicates that water may be distributed across the lunar surface, and not limited to cold, shadowed places.”
India’s first lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1, was the first to find water on the moon’s surface, in 2009. At the time, researchers found it difficult to confirm whether it was water – H20 – or hydroxyl molecules.
Paul Hertz, the director of the Astrophysics Division in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA, said the discovery will have a significant impact on the understanding of lunar surface. “We had indications that H2O – the familiar water we know – might be present on the sunlit...
