NASA found lots of water on the moon

Last month NASA smashed a rocket, called the LCROSS, into the moon. It gouged a 30-meter-wide (100-foot-wide) hole in a shadowy crater near the moon’s south pole, letting fly more than 200 tons of material.

After analysing the explosion the scientists found a significant amount — about a dozen bucketfuls of water. The presence of water on the moon opens “a new chapter” that could allow for the development of a lunar space station.

The confirmation of water is welcome news both to future explorers who might set up home on the lunar surface and to scientists who hope that the water, in the form of ice accumulated over billions of years, could hold a record of the solar system’s history. Read more here, here, here, here or here.

Tags: Astrobiology, Astronomy, Science