NASA has vindicated the earlier clues of water particles on moon’s surface supporting the evidence from the ‘Deep Impact’ and ‘Cassini’ probes.

NASA crashed a rocket and along with a Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) into a crater on the moon recently in October 2009. NASA selected this unique crater named Cabeus situated on the south pole of the moon because it is permanently shadowed.

Presence of hydrogen over large areas of the Moon’s surface has been confirmed by the data sent from its Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument. However, Hydrogen concentration was low and was in the form of hydroxyl group (•OH).

The search for water particles on the moon gained momentum on 18th June 2009 when NASA launched Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) / LCROSS mission. Later on 9th October 2009 a rocket was directed to impact Cabeus crater followed shortly by the LCROSS spacecraft that flew into the ejected plume. The data was analyzed and the results were given out on 13th November confirming the water particles in the soil.

The chemical group hydroxyl (. OH) was actually detected, which could be either from water or from hydrates. Hydrates are inorganic salts with chemically bound water molecules. The proportion of water in relation to the soil was very less. It was nearly 10 parts per million in the soil. This concentration of water is lower than that found in the driest deserts soil of the Earth.