Space

The Moon Is A Lot Wetter Than Scientists Originally Thought

It's hard work hauling water into space. Having water on the moon would make future space missions a lot more efficient — if we can get to that water.

The Moon Is A Lot Wetter Than Scientists Originally Thought
NASA
SMS

Lurking deep below the moon's surface is something few expected to find: water. And there's more of it than we thought, according to a new study.

Which could be good news for future space exploration. Water is heavy and getting it into orbit takes a lot of power.

But if we could reach the water deposits on the moon, we'd need to haul less of it into space, making future lunar missions, or even colonies, that much more possible.

Previously, scientists had only found water near the polar regions of the moon, but this study found it all over the place.

How This Company Plans To Mine The Moon's Resources By 2020
How This Company Plans To Mine The Moon's Resources By 2020

How This Company Plans To Mine The Moon's Resources By 2020

A private company wants to mine the moon for resources by using a fleet of robots.

LEARN MORE

So far, it looks like the water is located in old volcanic material, but there just might be ice hanging out in the moon's mantle, too.

And if that's the case, water has likely been on the moon since early in its formation.