Water on the moon confirmed, a great opening for deep space exploration.

Scientists have finally confirmed the presence of water on moon which can have great impact on the future of deep space explorations. The quantity of water is estimated to be 100 million to 2.9 billion tonnes which is much more than the previous estimations. And surprisingly, water has also been detected on the sunlit side of the moon. 

What are it's implications to the future of astronomy? Why is this discovery important? How the presence of water has been confirmed? How the water would have possibly formed over there? And what are the future plans to use this potential resource? Let's dive right in and try to answer those questions. 

The advancements in the discovery

The presence of water was confirmed by NASA on 26th October,2020 in the clavius crater located at the southern Hemisphere of the moon.

Two researches were published in the nature astronomy related to this discovery. The first research by Casey Honniball confirmed the presence of water where it was expected to be and gave an estimation that is much more than ever before. On the other hand the second research by Paul Hayne detected the presence of water on the sunlit side of the moon for the very first time. On the darker shadowy regions of the moon, water is suspected to be present as frozen ice in shadowy pockets known as cold traps which is potentially accessible. The links to both of these researches are given below. 

Research 1 by Casey Honniball

Research 2 by Paul Haynes

Water on moon was first discovered in 2009 by the Chandrayaan I mission of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), where they used Moon mineralogy mapper to detect a wavelength that resembled water in the polar regions of the moon. But the problem was whether this wavelength (around 3 micro metre) was that of water or that of the hydroxyl groups. The absorption band of both of them are very similar, so it was difficult to predict. 

But in 2020 SOFIA (The Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy), world's largest flying observatory noticed a wavelength of 6 micrometers which was produced by a fundamental vibration unique to water. This actually confirmed the presence of water. 

Lunar water and deep space missions

Well it's confusing that how exactly water present in the moon is a great achievement. To answer this question we need to understand the importance of water in deep space. We spend millions of dollars to transport water through space journeys but if we extract water from moon then the transportation cost will be reduced significantly.

The use of water in space is two fold. First it can provide hydrogen for propelling the rockets and secondly it can provide oxygen for breathing purposes. Both of them are great necessities when we talk about space missions. With a surplus of fuel And oxygen we can actually travel far into deep space. The water could be used for drinking purposes as well. And who knows the presence of water on the moon could be our first step towards colonising space. 

Evidence of water on the sunlit surface was astonishing.

Without the moon's atmosphere and the sunlight falling directly on it, it was thought that even if water molecules would have formed there, it would have vaporised. But its presence over there, posed lots of questions. The most logical explanation can be given if we understand how the water molecules would have formed. 

It can be formed because of some meteors or by the action of the solar wind. The theoretical explanation that can be given is that during the impact from space rocks, the water molecules would have been captured in tiny bead like structure. Or alternatively they could be trapped between the grains of Moon's soil. But the reality could only be known once we visit it. 

The future on moon? 

Now that we have finally confirmed the presence of water we need to think forward. The future framework involves getting some additional information about it through SOFIA. And to map the cold traps and the water resources on the moon through VIPER.

And yeah, NASA's Artemis mission in 2024 will send one man and a woman to the moon to discover the possibilities. It is estimated that the water could be in the range of 100 million to 2.9 billion tonnes. The aim of the Artemis mission is to establish sustainable existence on moon. Well Artemis is a great topic, let's discuss it some other day. 

Check out this video by NASA on Artemis mission.