Liquid Water Moves Around & Rains On The Moon's Surface, And Scientists Have No Clue Why

For the longest time, we were almost sure there was no liquid water on the Moon. Then about 10 years ago, we discovered some mixed into the lunar soil, the regolith.

Now, new data from a NASA orbiter shows this water actually moves around the surface.

Images courtesy: NASA

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has an instrument called the Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP). This uses ultraviolet light to search for signs of water in craters. Now, new data from the satellite indicates the movement of water particles on the Moon's surface. This is despite the fact the water is supposedly bound to the regolith.

Also Read: My Whole Life Has Been A Lie, Turns Out Earth Has Always Had Three Moons And Not One!

As it turns out, the amount of water present and its location varies throughout the day. As the water heats up thanks to the Sun, it moves upwards towards the surface. At noon on the Moon, the water evaporates and either shifts to the nearest cold part of the surface, or rises up into the thin atmosphere. Then, when temperatures drop again later, the water molecules return to the regolith.

"This is an important new result about lunar water, a hot topic as our nation's space program returns to a focus on lunar exploration," said Dr Kurt Retherford, the principal investigator of the LAMP instrument. "We recently converted the LAMP's light collection mode to measure reflected signals on the lunar dayside with more precision, allowing us to track more accurately where the water is and how much is present."

Though this movement was previously detected to some extent, it was thought to either be an anomaly or an error caused by the way light bounces off it. But with the new tracking method from orbit, they can see for sure that the water does in fact move.

Also Read: China Has Grown Cotton On The Far Side Of Moon, And It's The 1st Country In The World To Do It

The data gives us a deeper understanding of the natural water cycle on the Moon. It's important because water is the most crucial requirement for any future bases there, whether a mining effort or a waystop on the road to Mars.

"It will ultimately help us learn about accessibility of water that can be used by humans in future missions to the Moon," said Amanda Hendrix, a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute. "Lunar water can potentially be used by humans to make fuel or to use for radiation shielding or thermal management; if these materials do not need to be launched from Earth, that makes these future missions more affordable."