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The discovery of water on the Moon has been a remarkable milestone in the field of space science to humanity. The Moon was believed for decades to be a dry, desolate, and lifeless celestial body. Thanks to advances in science and technology, our picture of the Moon has changed.
The process of reaching this revelation began during NASA’s Apollo 11 mission in 1969, when samples returned by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin contained no evidence of water. This theory of a waterless Moon lasted until the mid-1990s. In 1994, NASA’s Clementine mission identified strange radar reflections off the southern polar region that suggested the possible existence of frozen water. This was also corroborated by the Lunar Prospector mission in 1998, which found evidence of hydrogen in the polar regions of the Moon.
India officially contributed to water validation on the Moon. India’s first lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1, was in 2008 where instruments were sent to study the lunar surface. The Moon Impact Probe crash-landed on the Moon’s surface and it observed the presence of water molecules. NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper on Chandrayaan-1 confirmed the presence of water molecules on the lunar surface, especially at the poles.
The LCROSS mission in 2009 was the turning point with the crash of a rocket stage into a permanently shadowed south pole crater close to the Moon. The breakdown of the wreckage proved the existence of water ice. Subsequently, in 2020, NASA identified water on the illuminated surface of the Moon through the SOFIA airborne telescope, indicating that water molecules could be trapped in minerals even on the sunlit part of the Moon.
There is water on the Moon in every form, from ice in permanently shadowed regions, hydroxyl bound to minerals, and actual water molecules on the surface of the Moon. The implications of this finding are enormous for science and humanity.Water may sustain human life on the Moon, be drinking, cooking, and agricultural resources, and even rocket fuel.Knowledge of water on the Moon also tells us about the geological past and evolution of the Moon.
The future of the Moon appears bright, with NASA, ISRO, and ESA planning to establish permanent colonies on the Moon. These may be utilized for research as well as for the exploration of deep space.The presence of water has the potential to revolutionize space missions for commerce, with corporations potentially setting up resorts, labs, and mining facilities. Water resources can also be used for lunar agriculture, making life on the Moon more independent.
Current missions and forthcoming plans concentrate on lunar settlement. India’s Chandrayaan-2 and future Chandrayaan-3 keep observing the surface and geography of the Moon. NASA’s Artemis program and China’s Chang’e series attempt to further exploit and tap lunar water resources. Yet, extraction and use of water on the Moon are technically demanding, and ethical dilemmas surround exploiting celestial bodies.
As governments and private companies prepare to use resources from the Moon, issues of upsetting the natural order of extraterrestrial life and possible geopolitical conflicts are put in the spotlight. In spite of these hurdles, the finding of water on the Moon brought new avenues in the universe, and exploration of the same will further mould the destiny of humans.
