Spaceflight Insider
Laurel Kornfeld
February 6th, 2021
This image depicts the location of Clavius Crater, a rendering of water trapped in lunar soil, and the SOFIA Observatory. Image Credit: NASA
Two Earth-based studies confirm water molecules are present on the Moon, but the amounts vary depending on location and time of day, Casey Honniball of NASA’s
online seminar titled “A Tale of Lunar Water,” sponsored by the
Lunar and Planetary Institute (
LPI) in Houston, Texas.
Infrared Telescope Facility (
Apollo missions and by the former Soviet Union’s
Luna missions contain low levels of volatile elements though a few had high water contents, Honniball said. However, these samples represent only localized areas on the lunar surface and not the whole Moon.