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It's Official: NASA Reveals Water Discovered on the Moon! September 24, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : Chandrayaan-1, NASA, water , trackback

As rumored, NASA announced today that three different spacecraft have detected water molecules on the Moon (the first-ever confirmation!).

NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument on board India’s Chandrayaan-1 made the discovery, assisted in confirmation by the Cassini and Epoxi spacecrafts. The water and hydroxyl-bearing materials were found in a relatively young polar crater that faces away from Earth. The results were analyzed by scientists working at Brown University (in Providence, Rhode Island—a state I hold dear to my heart :) ).

Check out the press release for all the initial background and details :)

Fun fact: NASA originally got a hint of this water evidence back in 1999, on Cassini’s first pass, but did not publish those results until confirmation now.

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