For the first time, NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy confirmed water on the sunlit surface of the moon Monday.
“This discovery indicates that water may be distributed across the lunar surface, and not limited to cold, shadowed places,” according to NASA.gov.
“We had indications that H2O – the familiar water we know – might be present on the sunlit side of the Moon,” said Paul Hertz, director of the Astrophysics Division in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “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.”
According to a press release from NASA.gov, the Sahara houses 100 times more water than what SOFIA found in the lunar soil. However, this discovery raises new questions of how water is made and how it persists on the harsh, airless lunar surface.
SOURCE NASA.gov
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