“This is the first time we can confirm the presence of water on the sunny side of the Moon thanks to data from the SOFIA telescope,” he wrote on Twitter.
Bridenstein noted that NASA does not currently know if this water can be used as a resource.
NEWS: We confirmed water on the sunlit surface of the Moon for the 1st time using @SOFIAtelescope.
We don't know yet if we can use it as a resource, but learning about water on the Moon is key for our #Artemis exploration plans.
Join the media telecon at https://t.co/vOGoSHt74cpic.twitter.com/7p2QopMhod
- Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) October 26, 2020
As noted by the director of NASA's astrophysical unit Paul Hertz, the discovery suggests that water can be distributed over the lunar surface, and not only in cold and shaded places near the lunar poles.
“Now we know that it is there,” TASS quotes a specialist.
In September, NASA announced that the detection of phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus is an important event in the search for the possible existence of extraterrestrial life.