U.S. scientists find evidence of water on Moon

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Scientists at Brown University and other research institutions announced Thursday that they have found evidence of water molecules on the surface of the moon. The findings will be published Friday in journal Science.

Water particles have been detected on the surface of the Moon by three missions, including an Indian probe.(AFP/NASA/File/Nasa)

The molecules and hydroxyl -- a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom -- were discovered across the entire surface of earth's nearest celestial neighbor. While the abundances are not precisely known, as much as 1,000 water molecule parts-per-million could be in the lunar soil: harvesting one ton of the top layer of the moon's surface would yield as much as 32 ounces of water, according to scientists involved in the discovery.

Carle Pieters, a planetary geologist at Brown, is the lead author of one paper this week in Science that reports evidence of water in the moon's high latitudes -- greatly expanding current thinking about where water in any form was presumed to be located.

"We've made a very important step with this discovery, and now there are some very important steps to follow up on," Pieters said.