⁍ Scientists say lunar water is more widespread than previously known.

---

⁍ First unambiguous detection of water molecules on the lunar surface.

---

⁍ Another team reports 15,000 square miles of permanent shadows.

---

– The moon has more water than previously thought, according to two new NASA studies. In the first, researchers detected molecular water molecules on the moon’s surface, trapped within mineral grains, Reuters reports. “A lot of people think that the detection I’ve made is water ice, which is not true,” says a NASA scientist. “It’s just the water molecules—because they’re so spread out they don’t interact with each other to form water ice or even liquid water.” In the other study, researchers found tens of billions of small shadows on the moon’s surface, many of them in the polar regions. “Our research shows that a multitude of previously unknown regions of the moon could harbor water ice,” says the lead researcher. “Our results suggest that water could be much more widespread in the moon’s polar regions than previously thought, making it easier to access, extract, and analyze.” The source of the moon’s water remains a mystery. “Currently, the major contenders are comets, asteroids or small interplanetary dust particles, the solar wind, and the moon itself through outgassing from volcanic eruptions,” says the NASA scientist. “As our closest planetary companion, understanding the origins of water on the moon can also shed light on the origins of Earth’s water—still an open question in planetary science.”