PARIS: The Moon, long thought to be a dry, inhospitable orb, hosts surprisingly large sub-surface water reserves, which one day may quench the thirst of lunar explorers from Earth, scientists said Monday.
"We found the signature of the lunar interior water globally using satellite data," Shuai Li, co-author of a study by scientists at Brown University in the United States, told AFP.
"Such water can be used as in situ resources for future exploration," said Li, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Hawaii and Brown Ph.D. graduate.
Li noted scientists had believed the Moon to be "bone dry" until about a decade ago when scientists found evidence of water -- an essential ingredient for life -- in pebble-like beads brought back by Apollo missions.
The Brown findings show numerous volcanic deposits distributed across the surface of the Moon contain "unusually high amounts of trapped water" compared with the surrounding terrain.
They say the discovery of water in the ancient deposits, which are believed to consist of glass beads formed by the explosive eruption of magma from beneath the Moon's surface, boosts the idea that the lunar mantle is surprisingly water-rich. Read more...
"We found the signature of the lunar interior water globally using satellite data," Shuai Li, co-author of a study by scientists at Brown University in the United States, told AFP.
"Such water can be used as in situ resources for future exploration," said Li, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Hawaii and Brown Ph.D. graduate.
Li noted scientists had believed the Moon to be "bone dry" until about a decade ago when scientists found evidence of water -- an essential ingredient for life -- in pebble-like beads brought back by Apollo missions.
The Brown findings show numerous volcanic deposits distributed across the surface of the Moon contain "unusually high amounts of trapped water" compared with the surrounding terrain.
They say the discovery of water in the ancient deposits, which are believed to consist of glass beads formed by the explosive eruption of magma from beneath the Moon's surface, boosts the idea that the lunar mantle is surprisingly water-rich. Read more...