Before complex life developed on our planet, volcanoes on the Moon spread water vapor onto the Moon’s surface, which probably still exists as frost and ice in their craters. According to an article published in The Planetary Science Journal, this water vapor could be the perfect drinking water for astronauts.
Research: There may be invisible walls in space
Moon ice sheets could supply water to future astronauts
The research looks at simulations of the Moon going back billions of years. At that time, the Moon was experiencing massive volcanic eruptions that covered its surface with pools of lava roughly every 22,000 years. Today you can see them as dark spots on the near side of the Moon known as Maria. Those on the far side of the Moon are thought to be caused by massive asteroid impacts.
This new research suggests that volcanoes may have left ice sheets perhaps dozens or even hundreds of meters thick around the Moon’s poles. This new theory of frozen water provides further evidence that lunar volcanoes may have briefly formed a thin atmosphere and ejected clouds made mostly of carbon monoxide and water vapor.
There is, however, a minor problem with advising future astronauts to go in search of old frost water to drink. Because the waters on the Moon are probably buried under several meters of regolith (Moon dust). However, to solve this problem, equipment that astronauts can carry with them can be developed.
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- It was discovered that the water found on the Moon could be drinkable