Nasa Moon news - as it happened: Major discovery of ‘water traps’ on lunar surface announced

Nasa Moon news: Major announcement of mysterious 'new discovery' to be revealed today

Nasa has announced the “unambiguous” presence of water on the Moon.

The major announcement “contributes to Nasa’s efforts to learn about the Moon in support of deep space exploration”, the US space agency said.

A live stream of the event appeared on Nasa’s website, as well as on its official YouTube channel.

You can follow all the latest updates here.

[26 October 2020 16:07 · Anthony Cuthbertson]

“Water is going to be more accessible for drinking water, for rocket fuel, everything that Nasa needs water for,” says Paul Hayne, assistant professor in the laboratory of atmospheric and space physics at University of Colorado Boulder.

[26 October 2020 16:16 · Anthony Cuthbertson]

The discovery of water on the Moon is a major boost for missions to Mars and for future deep space exploration, Nasa says. 

The Moon can be used as a launch pad for these endeavours, with the water extracted for astronauts to drink, or even convert into hydrogen for rocket fuel.

(Nasa)

[26 October 2020 16:23 · Anthony Cuthbertson]

Here’s Nasa’s illustration of how its flying observatory Sofia made the discovery.

(Nasa)

[26 October 2020 17:07 · Anthony Cuthbertson]

Thanks for joining us. 

A reminder that you can read all the news of today’s announcement here.