Studies of the water found in rocks brought back to Earth and through the research of the Moon's surface have discovered the presence of the water-based material, hydroxyl. This water molecule is similar to the type of water molecules found on Earth in water vapor created by the evaporation of water in sunlight. The chemical properties of hydroxyl are made up of one atom of liquid hydrogen and one atom of liquid oxygen, Universe Today reports.
During NASA's Apollo Moon landings brought to Earth samples of lunar rocks that were studied for the presence of water. Despite water being present within the rocks, the water was classed as a contaminant of the return journey to Earth, the boxes used to transport the rocks leaked and the present water was dismissed as a contaminant of the journey. Later studies, such as NASA's 2009 Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, discovered the presence of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen throughout the lunar surface. Water molecules are found in a lunar mineral, known as apatite.
The water that is now known to be present on the Moon is thought to be the result of impacts with comets in the early life of the Moon. Comparisons of the liquid oxygen and hydrogen found on the lunar landscape have shown them to be of a different composition than the water found on Earth. However, the water molecules are similar to water samples found during the studies of three comets, Halley, Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake.
The discovery of liquid hydrogen and oxygen on the lunar surface has created a number of possible uses of lunar water to extend the distances that can be covered by spacecraft traveling in space. Spacecraft leaving the Earth commonly use liquid hydrogen for fuel. By utilizing the available liquid hydrogen of the Moon, spacecraft could refuel at the moon for longer journeyss. The discovery of liquid hydrogen and oxygen increases the opportunity to inhabit the Moon through the presence of water.
