•Water on the Moon has two potential sources: water carried by comets and other bodies that impact the Moon, and in situ production. The latter is theorized to occur when hydrogen ions in the solar wind (protons) chemically combine with oxygen atoms in Moon minerals (oxides, silicates, etc.) to form water or hydroxyl groups, the possible precursors to water. Water (H2O) and its chemical compound, the hydroxyl group (-OH), exist as hydrates and hydroxides of Moon minerals in low concentrations throughout much of the Moon’s surface. Indeed, adsorbed water has been estimated to be present at concentrations of one part per million to one part per thousand in the minerals. This mineral-bound water, or hydroxylated rock surface, should not be confused with water ice.
Uncertain evidence of the presence of liquid water on the Moon has been found in various models that assume the presence of bound hydrogen. Moon scientists have been discussing the possibility of water deposits for decades. Now, they write in a report that they are “confident that the decades-long debate is over.” “There is water on the Moon everywhere; not only in minerals, but in fragmented form on the surface and probably in the form of ice blocks or slabs deep down.” In 1961, Caltech researchers Kenneth Watson, Bruce C. Murray and Harrison Brown first suggested that there might be ice in the bottoms of polar lunar craters. In 1978, it was reported that the samples returned by the Soviet Luna 24 probe contained 0.1% water by mass. In 1998, the Lunar Prospector spacecraft measured the amount of hydrogen in the regolith near the polar regions. This instrument is a neutron spectrometer that can detect the amount and location of hydrogen in up to 50 parts per million.
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