How was the polar ice on the Moon discovered?
In 1994, the Clementine spacecraft brought hope to lunar water exploration by announcing the potential existence of water ice at the Moon's poles. On January 6, 1998, the Lunar Prospector spacecraft was launched, and after seven weeks of scanning, Dr. Alan Binder declared, "We found water!" This water is believed to be buried in the soil at the bottom of craters in the form of ice, with an estimated total ranging from 11 million to 363 million tons. If the lunar water resources are sufficient, they could support 2,000 people living on the Moon for over a century.
Despite the exciting preliminary findings, confirming the existence of ice lakes on the Moon will ultimately depend on future spacecraft equipped with instruments for direct sampling. If it becomes feasible to convert this water into drinking water at a low cost, the dream of lunar colonization may finally become a reality.
