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| 'Large amounts' of water on Moon | 'Large amounts' of water on Moon |
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| Nasa's experiment last month to find water on the Moon was a major success, US scientists have announced. | Nasa's experiment last month to find water on the Moon was a major success, US scientists have announced. |
| The space agency smashed a rocket and probe into a large crater at the lunar south pole, hoping to kick up ice. | The space agency smashed a rocket and probe into a large crater at the lunar south pole, hoping to kick up ice. |
| Scientists who have studied the data now say instruments trained on the impact plume saw copious quantities of water vapour. | Scientists who have studied the data now say instruments trained on the impact plume saw copious quantities of water vapour. |
| One researcher described this as the equivalent of "a dozen two-gallon buckets" of water. | One researcher described this as the equivalent of "a dozen two-gallon buckets" of water. |
| The 1.6km-high plume of debris was kicked up by the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) last month when it crashed into Cabeus crater. | The 1.6km-high plume of debris was kicked up by the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) last month when it crashed into Cabeus crater. |
| A Centaur rocket stage crashed first, followed by a smaller probe after it had sent measurements of the first impact to Earth. | |
| "We're unlocking the mysteries of our nearest neighbour and, by extension, the Solar System," said Michael Wargo, chief lunar scientist at Nasa's headquarters in Washington DC. | "We're unlocking the mysteries of our nearest neighbour and, by extension, the Solar System," said Michael Wargo, chief lunar scientist at Nasa's headquarters in Washington DC. |
| "The Moon harbours many secrets, and LCROSS has added a new layer to our understanding." | "The Moon harbours many secrets, and LCROSS has added a new layer to our understanding." |
| Debris cloud | |
| The identification of water-ice in the impact plume is important for purely scientific reasons, but also because a supply of water on the Moon would be a vital resource for future human exploration. | The identification of water-ice in the impact plume is important for purely scientific reasons, but also because a supply of water on the Moon would be a vital resource for future human exploration. |
| The impact into Cabeus threw up a large plume composed of water vapour and debris, which rose quickly. | The impact into Cabeus threw up a large plume composed of water vapour and debris, which rose quickly. |
| An additional curtain of lunar debris spread out laterally after the impact. | |
| "We are ecstatic," said Anthony Colaprete, chief scientist for LCROSS at Nasa's Ames Research Center in California. | |
| "Multiple lines of evidence show water was present in both the high-angle vapour plume and the ejecta curtain created by the LCROSS Centaur impact. The concentration and distribution of water and other substances requires further analysis, but it is safe to say Cabeus holds water." | |
| The team compared spectral data for materials seen in the plume with known data signatures for water. | |
| "We were able to match the spectra from LCROSS data only when we inserted the spectra for water," Colaprete said. | |
| "No other reasonable combination of other compounds that we tried matched the observations. The possibility of contamination from the Centaur also was ruled out." | |
| Dr Colaprete said a large debris plume rose at least one or two kilometres in altitude. It stayed just below the crater rim, which may have prevented astronomers from observing it from Earth. |