{"id":392833,"date":"2026-03-24T23:59:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T13:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?p=976545"},"modified":"2026-03-24T23:59:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T13:59:00","slug":"nasas-water-hunting-tool-will-help-scout-moons-south-pole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=392833","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Water-Hunting Tool Will Help Scout\u00a0Moon\u2019s South Pole\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Harrison<\/a><\/figure>
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Apollo 17 geologist and astronaut Harrison Schmitt next to a large bolder on the Taurus-Littrow landing site\u00a0on the Moon.\u00a0<\/div>\n
NASA<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

NASA is joining international partners to hunt for ice on the Moon in support of future human exploration. The agency is providing a water-detecting instrument, the Neutron Spectrometer System (NSS), to the Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) mission\u202fled by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation).  <\/p>\n

The instrument, which detects ice under the lunar surface, will be installed on LUPEX\u2019s lunar rover planned to arrive at the Moon no earlier than 2028. NASA\u2019s support of LUPEX is part of an ongoing effort to identify and characterize lunar water and other materials that easily evaporate near the Moon\u2019s South Pole. <\/p>\n

Water is a critical material for NASA\u2019s plans to develop an enduring presence on the Moon. Instead of relying solely on resources carried from Earth, astronauts could use the Moon\u2019s water for breathable air, rocket fuel, and more. The first step is to find deposits of meaningful quantities of water close to the surface to mark potential landing areas for future astronauts. The water on the Moon is mostly found as molecules within lunar regolith, the dusty and rocky material that covers the Moon\u2019s surface, but there may be ice deposits below the surface of the lunar South Pole. Once we better understand the quantity and quality of the available resources, we can learn how to harness it for exploration.  <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is currently a gap in our understanding of how lunar ice is distributed at small scales, from 10s of centimeters up to 10s of kilometers,\u201d said Rick Elphic, NSS lead at NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center in California\u2019s Silicon Valley, where the instrument was developed in collaboration with Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto, California. \u201cThe only way to understand the \u2018where\u2019 and \u2018how much\u2019 of lunar ice is by exploring on the surface at these scales.\u201d  <\/p>\n

How neutrons signal water<\/strong> <\/h4>\n
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NASA\u2019s Neutron Spectrometer System instrument will search for signs of water ice on the Moon\u2019s surface aboard a lunar rover belonging to the Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) mission\u202fled by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation). <\/div>\n
NASA\/Warren Davis<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Scientists can search for water on the Moon without drilling into the surface. Instead, they hunt for concentrations of hydrogen, the H in H\u2082O. Past missions in lunar orbit have found signs of water at the Moon\u2019s poles, but ground missions are needed to build detailed maps of location and quantity.  <\/p>\n

Instruments like NSS can infer the presence of hydrogen by detecting interactions with particles called neutrons. Neutrons are constantly rattling around in the lunar soil, and they\u2019re about the same size as hydrogen atoms. When these two particles interact, fewer medium-energy neutrons are ejected from the soil. The absence of medium-energy neutrons suggests more of the particles are interacting with hydrogen underground, a deficit that can be measured with the right tools.  <\/p>\n

The NSS\u00a0instrument\u00a0uses a \u201cgas proportional counter\u201d to detect\u00a0neutrons bouncing out of the lunar soil.\u00a0It\u00a0features two tubes that\u00a0contain\u00a0a rare gas called helium-3 that is\u00a0very sensitive\u00a0to\u00a0neutrons. When neutrons\u00a0strike the helium-3 gas atoms, the gas\u00a0produces\u00a0electrical pulses that can be counted to infer the presence and quantity of\u00a0hydrogen\u00a0up to three feet\u00a0underground.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Series of water-hunters<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Ongoing investigation of the Moon\u2019s water will inform how astronauts might access it in the future. To that end, NASA researchers at Ames have developed a series of NSS instruments intended to ride aboard different missions to investigate sites at the Moon\u2019s South Pole.  <\/p>\n

The first Moon-bound NSS instrument in the series was carried aboard Astrobotic\u2019s Peregrine lander, Astrobotic Peregrine Mission One<\/a>, which launched in January 2024. That mission came to an end without touching down on the lunar surface, but the NSS aboard powered on and operated on multiple days over the course of the 10-day mission. These operations successfully captured data about the particle background of deep space, which strongly supported NSS operations on future missions.  <\/p>\n

NASA’s VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover<\/a>) mission, part of the agency\u2019s Artemis campaign, will carry another NSS. As part of NASA\u2019s ongoing Commercial Lunar Payload Services effort<\/a>, a fourth NSS instrument will ride aboard the MoonRanger \u201cmicro rover\u201d developed by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.  <\/p>\n

\u201cThe three upcoming NSS rover expeditions will tell us what kinds of places on the Moon are most likely to host ice,\u201d Elphic said. \u201cMissions to the lunar surface can then be planned to similar sites where ice can be found.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Neutron Spectrometer System was jointly developed by NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center and Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto, California.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u202f<\/strong><\/p>\n

For more information on the science of water on the Moon, visit: <\/p>\n

https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/moon\/moon-water-and-ices<\/a><\/p>\n

Karen Fox \/ Molly Wasser
Headquarters, Washington 
240-285-5155 \/ 240-419-1732 
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov<\/a> \/ molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov<\/a>  <\/p>\n

Arezu Sarvestani 
Ames Research Center, Silicon Valley\u202f 
650-613-2334 
arezu.sarvestani@nasa.gov <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NASA is joining international partners to\u00a0hunt for\u00a0ice on the Moon\u00a0in support of\u00a0future human exploration. The agency is\u00a0providing\u00a0a\u00a0water-detecting\u00a0instrument,\u00a0the\u00a0Neutron Spectrometer System (NSS),\u00a0to\u00a0the Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX)\u00a0mission\u202fled by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and ISRO (Indian Space Research\u00a0Organisation).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15621,15596,17147,17026,15598],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-392833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ames-research-center","category-earths-moon","category-lunar-science","category-science-instruments","category-science-mission-directorate"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t