NASA Spacecraft observes movement of water molecules on moon

NASA's Spacecraft Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has made an astonishing new discovery. The LRO has observed water molecules moving on the day side of the moon, a discovery that may become quite beneficial as the American space agency plans to send astronauts back to the lunar surface. 

It was until the last decade, that scientists used to believe our moon to be arid, and any water existed mainly as pockets of ice in permanently shaded craters near poles.

However, recently the instrument on board LRO - the Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) - measured sparse level of molecules temporarily stuck to the moon's surface, which helped characterise that 'lunar hydration' changes over the course of day. This was revealed in the paper published in Geophysical Research Letters.

"The study is an important step in advancing the water story on the moon and is a result of years of data accumulated from the LRO mission", said John Keller, LRO deputy project scientist from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

More recently, scientists have identified surface water in sparse populations of molecules bound to the lunar soil or regolith. But, amount and locations were found to vary based on the time of the day. The lunar water is more common at higher latitudes and tends to hop around as the surface heats up.

Scientists had hypothesised that the hydrogen ions in the solar winds may be the source of most of the moon's surface water. As a result, when moon passes behind the earth and is shielded from the solar wind, the "water spigot" should essentially turn off.

However, the water observed by LAMP doesn't decrease when the moon is shielded by earth and the region influenced by its magnetic field, suggesting water builds over time, rather than "raining" down directly from the solar wind.

"These results aid in understanding the lunar water cycle and will ultimately help us learn about the accessibility of water that can be used by humans in future missions to the moon", said lead author Amanda Hendrix, a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute.

"Lunar water can potentially be used by humans to make fuel or to use for radiation shielding or thermal management; if these materials don't need to be launched from earth, which would make these future missions more affordable", Hendrix added.