<p class="dcr-s3ycb2">Approximately this week, space engineers are preparing to launch a unique mission. Researchers from the UK and US have created a probe aimed at mapping the water presence on the moon's surface. Scheduled to commence this Thursday, Lunar Trailblazer's two-year mission will send off from Florida aboard a Space X Falcon rocket.</p>

<p class="dcr-s3ycb2">The mission's objective - to explore for water on the lunar surface - may seem peculiar, considering the moon was traditionally believed to be a dry, desolated sphere. Nonetheless, scientists have recently discovered robust evidence suggesting substantial amounts of water may exist there. Lunar Trailblazer's responsibility will be to scrutinize the quantity and location of this water near the moon's surface.</p>

<p class="dcr-s3ycb2">The mission will be closely monitored by space engineers and astronomers who are convinced that lunar water could play a crucial role in setting up crewed colonies on the moon. Using solar power plants, the water could be split into its basic elements of hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen would then serve as fuel, while the oxygen would provide astronauts with the ability to breathe.</p>

<p class="dcr-s3ycb2">This is primarily a scientific mission,” Prof Neil Bowles, leader of the Oxford University team of physicists who constructed one of Lunar Trailblazer’s main instruments, has stated. “However, it should also assist us in understanding how water is transported across the lunar surface, a concept which carries implications for future human lunar exploration.</p>

<figure id="81e69eb9-b78a-418e-8411-cf9ce00aec5f" >
    <figcaption data-spacefinder-role="inline" class="dcr-1tx6u99">The Lunar Trailblazer is to embark on a two-year mission. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/space" target="_blank">Read More</a> Photograph: Lockheed Martin Space/Nasa</figcaption>
</figure>

<p class="dcr-s3ycb2">Until now, it was assumed water molecules brought to the moon by meteorites and comets would break down quickly as sunlight turned them into hydrogen and oxygen, both of which would escape into space. However, several robotic probes have reportedly produced strong evidence that water, mainly in ice form, exists in significant quantities in certain deep, permanently shadowed craters, with the lunar south pole appearing as the most promising spot.</p>

<p class="dcr-s3ycb2">India’s Chandrayaan-1 probe took these discoveries a step further in 2009 by detecting traces of water on the moon’s surface far from the poles. This was "a big surprise that changed our perceptions of what we might find on the moon” according to Bowles.</p>

<p class="dcr-s3ycb2">Although the instrument on Chandrayaan-1 that made the discovery did not encompass the spectral range to fully map water on the lunar surface, Lunar Trailblazer has been engineered to circumvent that limitation. It will carry two instruments. The first, an infrared scanner, will pinpoint water and other geological features, and the second, designed by Bowles and his team, is a high advanced thermal mapper.</p>

<p class="dcr-s3ycb2">When combined, these instruments should be able to generate a water map of the lunar surface. Although we know that water exists at the moon’s poles, we are not certain how it got there, Bowles explains. We suspect a kind of lunar water cycle similar to Earth’s, although the moon’s version does not involve clouds or rain.</p>

<p class="dcr-s3ycb2">There are two main theories: either water is delivered by comets or meteorites that strike the lunar surface, releasing water that condenses in cold traps at the poles, or thin layers of water may be created by reactions in the lunar soil.</p>

<p class="dcr-s3ycb2">We are, however, not aware of how that water circulates and amasses into ice deposits. We aim to uncover the reasons why and how water behaves on the moon, knowledge that is vital not only for our moon comprehension but also for understanding what might occur on similar worlds, like Mercury.</p>

<p class="dcr-s3ycb2">Lunar Trailblazer will not be the only spacecraft scheduled to be launched on Thursday. The launch includes IM-2, a lunar lander built by the US company Intuitive Machines, which is destined to land on the moon to drill beneath the surface and search for water. In addition, there is a probe - named Odin by its builder AstroForge - that will capture images at asteroid 2022 OB5 before a return mission that plans to land on the asteroid and extract minerals from its surface. All these missions are part of Nasa’s commercial lunar payload services program, set up to prepare for the eventual colonization of the moon.</p>

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/feb/22/space-mission-aims-to-map-water-on-surface-of-the-moon