Moon water aids space exploration

The discovery of large quantities of water on the moon will have very significant implications for human space exploration, according to an expert at Kingston University.

The recent findings by NASA were reportedly made after researchers examined data from three separate missions to the moon.

Dr Chris Welch, an astronautics and space systems expert at Kingston University, said the findings could transform work for astronauts.

‘Scientists thought they knew fairly accurately what the surface of the moon was like and these results show that they didn't - or at least not completely,’ he said.

‘Finding so much more water could make living on the moon much easier in the future. Water is very heavy and to launch it into space would be difficult and expensive.

'If there is water on the moon - in whatever form - then we have a potential reservoir that could be used for drinking, or to make into hydrogen and oxygen that could be used as rocket propellant. Also, of course, we could use the oxygen to breathe.’