NASA Confirms Ice Water on the Moon: How Will This Affect Future Space Exploration?

NASA reported in a press conference (November 13, 2009) that preliminary data from the LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite) mission confirmed the presence of significant quantities of water on the moon. TThis water was detected during the Oct. 9, 2009 planned crashes into the permanently shadowed portion of a crater near the Moon's south pole. When that crash of rocket parts into the lunar surface occurred, many TV stations carried the view of it live (seen from a camera on a trailing space vehicle that also crashed into the Moon a few minutes later). There was actually significant disappointment at that time because the impact did not appear to kick up any dust plume as had been expected. However, the spectrometer instrument on board the trailing vehicle sent back valuable data that NASA scientists have only now finished analyzing to the degree that they felt confident in making this announcement.

How much water was found? Around 25 gallons were detected in the spectral signature of the material kicked up in the crash alone, indicating that much more is likely available in the frozen shadows of this and other polar craters on the Moon. The reason NASA was looking in the shadows of such a crater is that the sun angle is so low there all the time that the lunar soil is permanently in shadow and thus extremely cold all the time. The result is that any water in this soil would be permanently frozen and thus unable to evaporate or otherwise float away from the surface like it would in other parts of the Moon.

So what will NASA do next and what good does it do for us to know there is water on the Moon? And is there enough there to do anything useful? For answers, one only has to look at the recently released final report of the Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee (Seeking a Human Spaceflight Program Worthy of a Great Nation: Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee). In it, "the Committee finds that no plan compatible with the FY 2010 budget profile permits human exploration to continue in any meaningful way." They proceed to outline several options for how to achieve the goals of a space exploration program, and the costs of each option. Interestingly, the report does not mention the specific possibility of discovering water on the Moon (although that possibility had been hypothesized much earlier), but it does have this prophetic statement: "There are potential resources on the Moon that one day could be launched from the Moon to fuel depots at the Earth-Moon Lagrange points, which could then be used by exploration missions beyond the Earth-Moon system." Reports on the discovery of water on the Moon state that the water could be used for drinking, making fuel and providing oxygen, and that a ready supply of water would make it much more feasible to build lunar bases or launch missions to Mars from the Moon. Therefore, it is clear that this discovery lends support to the "Moon first" option recommended by the committee, and will make this option even more cost-effective.

"Mars is the ultimate destination for human exploration of the inner solar system; but it is not the best first destination," wrote the committee. "We could choose to explore the Moon first, with lunar surface exploration focused on developing the capability to explore Mars."

Sources:

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, "LCROSS Impact Data Indicates Water on Moon." NASA.

Alicia Daily, "Splash! NASA moon crash struck lots of water." The Associated Press.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, "Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee." NASA.

Science Daily, "LCROSS Impact Analysis Indicates Water on Moon." Science Daily.