Water on the Moon: what does it mean for the future of space exploration?

NASA scientists recently confirmed the presence of large quantities of frozen water on the Moon after many decades of research and debate. Large craters at the Moon's southern pole are permanently in shadow, rendering the temperatures locked well below zero—ideal conditions for ice to form where it won't later evaporate under the sun's unfiltered rays.

The presence of water on the Moon has been a holy grail for space exploration, because a permanently manned base on the Moon would require large volumes of water to sustain the human inhabitants, and if the water is already available in a usable form, that means any settlers won't need to bring it with them on the journey up. When every gram of cargo means hundreds of grams more rocket fuel, one of the biggest barriers to settling off-world is the feasibility of bringing all the elements of required for a habitat. Water is one of the key resources required to set up a biosphere—the name used by scientists to describe a self-regulating system of biological processes that allow life to flourish. This means the discovery of water on the Moon means that it will be much easier to set up a manned moonbase, something scientists have dreamed of for centuries.

So why would a manned Moon base be so significant? Well, the Moon is a site of significant interest for scientific research, and a manned base would be able to conduct experiments with much quicker turnaround than we can currently achieve. Right now, any investigations on the Moon's surface have to be conceived, constructed and deployed remotely over the course of many years and at great expense. A team based on the Moon, with even simple manufacturing capabilities, could conduct vastly more research in the same space of time at a fraction of the cost.

In addition, the lack of a substantial atmosphere that makes the moon so hostile for life also offers a substantial benefit for telescopes. Optical and radio telescopes alike require a clear line of sight to observe distant objects. On the Earth, our atmosphere obscures much of the electromagnetic spectrum, including visual light, meaning effective telescopes must be huge to compensate. Meanwhile, telescopes in space are enormously costly to construct and difficult to maintain. After the Hubble Telescope was launched in 1990, the scientists responsible realised that a slight misalignment meant many of the images it produced were blurry or slightly out of focus. It took three years and millions of dollars before a solution could be put in place. A telescope array on the moon would be the ideal middle-ground: as compact as a satellite telescope, but easy to maintain and adjust like a ground-based equivalent.

Finally, a Moon base offers a perfect jumping-off point for future space exploration. With gravity close to 1/6th the strength experienced on Earth, a rocket launched from the Moon would need less than 17% of the fuel required for a comparable launch on Earth. Less fuel per gram of weight dramatically increases the size of craft and the amount of cargo that can be launched, allowing us to build larger rockets and carry more people and equipment for future explorations. It might sound like something out of science fiction, but a base on the Moon is considered by many to be a necessary step for humankind to expand beyond the confines of Biosphere One (or Planet Earth, as it's more commonly known).

All in all, this discovery is an exciting moment for the future of space travel, and we'll be keeping a close watch on what happens next, reporting on any new developments right here on our channel. Subscribe to keep up to date with all the most interesting space news, as well as our incredible videos of the Earth from space.

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