NASA Confirms Water Present on the Moon

November 16, 2009—The argument that the moon is a dry, desolate place no longer holds water. NASA announced on November 13 that preliminary data from the impact of the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, indicates that water was found in a lunar crater near the moon’s south pole. The impact created by the LCROSS Centaur upper stage rocket created a two-part plume of material from the bottom of the crater. The first part was a high angle plume of vapor and fine dust and the second a lower angle ejecta curtain of heavier material. This material has not seen sunlight in billions of years. “We’re unlocking the mysteries of our nearest neighbor and by extension the solar system. It turns out the moon harbors many secrets, and LCROSS has added a new layer to our understanding,” said Michael Wargo, chief lunar scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington. Scientists have long speculated about the source of vast quantities of hydrogen that have been observed at the lunar poles. But the LCROSS findings indicate that water could be more widespread and in greater quantity than previously expected. Since the impacts, the LCROSS science team has been working almost nonstop analyzing the huge amount of data the spacecraft collected. The team concentrated on data from the satellite’s spectrometers, which provide the most definitive information about the presence of water. A spectrometer examines light emitted or absorbed by materials that helps identify their composition. “We are ecstatic,” said Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS project scientist and principal investigator at NASA’s Ames Research Center. “Multiple lines of evidence show water was present in both the high angle vapor plume and the ejecta curtain created by the LCROSS Centaur impact. The concentration and distribution of water and other substances requires further analysis, but it is safe to say Cabeus holds water.” LCROSS was launched June 18, 2009, as a companion mission to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter from Kennedy Space Center. After separating from LRO, the LCROSS spacecraft held onto the spent Centaur upper stage rocket of the launch vehicle, executed a lunar swing-by and entered into a series of long looping orbits around the Earth. After traveling 113 days and nearly 5.6 million miles, the Centaur and LCROSS separated on final approach to the moon and the Centaur impacted the lunar surface early on October 9. Approximately four minutes of data was collected before the LCROSS itself impacted the lunar surface.

The visible camera image showing the ejecta plume at about 20 seconds after impact. Credit: NASA Data from the ultraviolet/visible spectrometer taken shortly after impact showing emission lines (indicated by arrows). These emission lines are diagnostic of compounds in the vapor/debris cloud. Credit: NASA Data from the down-looking, near-infrared spectrometer with a model that contains more compounds. A continued effort going forward will be to uniquely identify the various compounds responsible for the spectral features. Credit: NASA

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