{"id":624846,"date":"2026-08-07T05:59:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T05:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/624846\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T05:59:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T05:59:22","slug":"scientists-find-a-new-way-to-detect-hidden-water-ice-on-the-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/624846\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists Find a New Way To Detect Hidden Water Ice on the Moon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NASA<\/a>On the first shift during the lunar flyby observation period, the Artemis II crew captured more than two-thirds of the Moon, showcasing the intricate features of the nearside. The 600-mile-wide impact crater, Orientale basin, lies along the transition between the near and far sides and is sometimes partly visible from Earth. The round black spot northeast of Orientale is Grimaldi crater, known for its exceptionally dark mare lava floor and heavily degraded rim. Credit: NASA<\/p>\n

By studying how seismic waves move through frozen soil on Earth, a geophysicist helped develop a more effective method for detecting water ice on the Moon.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Beneath the Moon\u2019s permanently shadowed polar craters, water ice may lie hidden beyond the reach of instruments in orbit. Researchers now think those buried deposits could be located by listening for changes in the vibrations traveling through lunar soil.<\/p>\n

Geologists from the University of Maryland<\/a>, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory<\/a> and the University of Hawaii<\/a> found that seismic waves, the same vibrations recorded during earthquakes, could reveal and map ice beneath the lunar surface.<\/p>\n

Published in Science Advances, the findings arrive as NASA prepares to send astronauts toward the Moon\u2019s south polar region through its Artemis program, with crewed landings targeted for 2028. Ice preserved inside the deep shadows of polar craters could become one of the most useful local resources available to future explorers.<\/p>\n

Once melted and purified, lunar ice could provide drinking water. Electricity could also separate it into oxygen for breathing and hydrogen for rocket fuel, reducing the amount of material that long missions and permanent outposts would need to carry from Earth.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s crucial to identify any materials on the moon that an astronaut can make use of while they\u2019re up there,\u201d said Nicholas Schmerr, an associate professor in UMD\u2019s Department of Geological, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences and a co-author of the study. \u201cSince they will be limited by the few resources they brought from Earth, anything they find on the moon will help them basically live off the land, especially for longer-term missions or outposts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seismic waves can probe deeper<\/p>\n

The amount and distribution of lunar ice remain uncertain. Satellites can examine the Moon from orbit, but their observations are largely limited to the shallowest layer of soil. Some deposits may be buried much farther below the surface, where seismic measurements could provide a clearer view.<\/p>\n

The principle rests on a measurable difference between dry and frozen soil. Ice makes the material around it stiffer, allowing seismic vibrations to travel two to three times faster than they move through dry soil. Ice-rich regions may also reflect seismic energy instead of allowing it to continue through the ground, producing an effect similar to sound echoing from a wall.<\/p>\n

\"LRO<\/a>An image of the moon\u2019s Hayn Crater captured by NASA\u2019s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. Water ice may be hidden deep inside similar lunar craters. Credit: NASA\/GSFC\/Arizona State University<\/p>\n

According to Schmerr, a properly positioned lunar seismometer could record both signatures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can use seismic waves to not just see whether ice is present but also roughly how much of it there is,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Three tests produced the same signal<\/p>\n

The researchers tested the idea through three complementary approaches. Lead author Harrison Lisabeth (Ph.D. \u201916, geology), a UMD graduate and rock physicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, began with volcanic rock from Arizona that closely resembles Moon dust when crushed.<\/p>\n

Lisabeth froze the material, then used X-rays to observe how ice collected within the microscopic openings between its grains. This experiment helped establish how frozen lunar soil might be structured below the surface.<\/p>\n

Co-author Matthew Siegler of the University of Hawaii created detailed temperature models of the Moon\u2019s south polar region. The maps identified craters that have remained cold enough to preserve ice for billions of years.<\/p>\n

At UMD, Schmerr simulated small moonquakes traveling through deposits of buried lunar ice. Across the laboratory work, temperature modeling, and computer simulations, the presence of ice produced clear, measurable changes in the seismic signals.<\/p>\n

Lunar ice preserves an ancient record<\/p>\n

Ice on the Moon could provide more than supplies for astronauts. Permanently shadowed craters can capture and freeze volatile substances such as water, preserving them with little disturbance over immense spans of time.<\/p>\n

Because some lunar rocks are roughly four billion years old, ice trapped among them may retain evidence from the early history of the solar system. Examining those deposits could help scientists investigate how water reached the inner planets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe moon witnessed some of the most critical parts of the early solar system, including how water was delivered,\u201d Schmerr said. \u201cStudying the ice deposited there could reveal how water spread and ultimately how Earth\u2019s oceans formed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upcoming missions can test the prediction<\/p>\n

Future lunar missions may soon provide the first opportunity to search for the predicted seismic patterns. China\u2019s Chang\u2019e-7 mission is expected to land near Shackleton Crater in late 2026 with a seismometer aboard. Several suspected ice deposits are located nearby.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Artemis astronauts may follow in 2028 by deploying the Lunar Environmental Monitoring Station, an instrument Schmerr helped develop for seismic exploration. Data from these instruments could show whether natural lunar vibrations reveal buried ice in the way the researchers anticipate.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur findings are laying the groundwork for an observation we\u2019ll get in the next couple of years,\u201d Schmerr said. \u201cNo one has physically measured the ice on the moon yet, but we now have a prediction for what to look out for. That\u2019s an important first step.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reference: \u201cThe seismic signature of lunar ice\u201d by Harrison P. Lisabeth, Nicholas Schmerr and Matthew Siegler, 31 July 2026, Science Advances.
DOI: 10.1126\/sciadv.adz7220<\/a><\/p>\n

This research was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division (Contract No. DEAC02-05CH11231), and the NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute CLEVER project (Grant No. GR00024738) and GEODES project (Grant No. 80NSSC19M0216). This article does not necessarily reflect the views of these organizations.<\/p>\n

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