In August 2018, a modified Boeing 747 aircraft placed a telescope on its rear hatch in mid-flight at more than 8,000 miles above sea level and made observations of the lunar surface that, after two years of analysis
, have confirmed that it contains water. frozen in craters, some very small, never reached by sunlight.
The discovery may have important implications for future manned missions to the Moon, beginning with
NASA's Artemis mission and the expected arrival of the first woman on the lunar surface
.
Ice had previously been found in the coldest and darkest regions at the moon's North and South poles.
But the new finding suggests that water may be present over more of the lunar surface, beyond areas that are cold and permanently in shadow.
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"This is exciting because the expectation was that
any body of water present on the surface of the sunlit moon would not survive the lunar day
," said Paul Hertz, director of astrophysics at NASA in Washington, DC, during a conference of press this Monday.
The discovery has important implications for space exploration, especially as NASA plans to return astronauts to the satellite in 2024. Hertz said
the water on the moon could be used as a resource for crews
or as fuel for other missions such as the one planned to Mars.
Nature Astronomy released on Monday two studies signed by American scientists: one points to the unequivocal detection of molecular water on the Moon and the other suggests that
about 1,500 square miles of its surface, which is roughly equivalent to the size of Texas,
and of which 40% are in the south, they have the capacity to retain water.
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Signs of the liquid had previously been detected on its surface, but the method could not distinguish whether it was H2O, molecular water, or hydroxyl (radicals called OH).
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Previous observations pointed to signs of water, which "still left an alternative explanation open", but the new
data "have no other explanation than the presence of molecular water,"
said Ignasi Ribas, astrophysicist at the Institute for Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC) and from the Institute of Space Sciences of the CSIC, to the Efe news agency.
Water, trapped within grains of dust or crystals, vibrates when excited by sunlight
and emits signals at a wavelength of six microns.
"In practice, it is as if those areas of the Moon are brighter than they should at that wavelength," added Ribas, who was not involved in the study.
The second study, led by Paul Hayne of the University of Colorado, examined the distribution on the lunar surface of zones in a constant state of darkness, in which ice could be stored and remain stable.
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"In cold areas the temperatures are so low that the ice would behave like a rock"
, if the water enters there "it will not go anywhere for a billion years", says the scientist quoted by the university.
Although it cannot be proven that these cold areas actually contain ice reserves
- "the only way to do it would be to go in person or with vehicles and dig,"
says Hayne - the results "are promising" and future missions could delve into this research .
The existence of water that could be used on the satellite is a “very interesting” and “exciting” prospect, Ribas points out, although he concludes that time will tell if it can be used to help future lunar bases.
With information from EFE and NBC News
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