Lunar History Revealed Through Latest Submersions

The Moon, long considered a barren and dry celestial body, has been revealed to hold a significant amount of water. A new study published on June 1, 2021, sheds light on how and when water likely wound up on the Moon.

The Moon was formed from an enormous ball of magma that progressively cooled and hardened. However, it was bombarded with water-rich asteroids known as carbonaceous chondrites for tens of millions of years after its formation. The intense bombardment primarily occurred during the Late Heavy Bombardment period, around 4.1 to 3.8 billion years ago.

The water on the Moon's surface is likely frozen and lodged in deep craters around the north and south poles. Estimates suggest that there is up to a billion tonnes of water on the Moon's surface, enough to fill a million Olympic pools. If extracted, the oxygen from the water molecules could potentially be used to sustain life for astronauts in lunar bases. Hydrogen, once separated from the oxygen, could be used as fuel for rockets or space-based mining operations.

It is possible that some of the water on the lunar surface may have been ejected by volcanic eruptions. The water was likely deposited on the Moon by asteroids.

The Moon can be viewed as a giant time capsule, preserving a record of the impact history of Earth and Moon since their formation. The record of impact history has been largely erased on Earth due to tectonic plates moving continents.

Several space agencies, including the European Space Agency and NASA, are developing robotic missions to explore the Moon and new regions to better estimate the quantity of ice on the Moon. If extrapolated from Apollo samples, the lunar interior could contain on the order of 1,000 trillion tonnes of water.

Recent research suggests that the water on the Moon could have practical implications for future scientific missions and lunar exploration. New technology detected water in those samples nearly a decade ago. Previously, scientists believed the Moon was drier than a bone based on Apollo mission samples. However, the new findings are of more than academic interest because Earth was also bombarded with water-rich asteroids.

The discovery of water on the Moon opens up a new chapter in lunar exploration and could pave the way for sustainable lunar bases and future space missions. The Moon, once thought to be a desolate world, is now seen as a potential resource for future space exploration.