By Daniel Strain

Principal investigator
Paul Hayne

Funding
NASA

Collaboration + support
CU Boulder Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences; Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP); Planetary Science Institute; Weizmann Institute of Science

Good news for thirsty astronauts: Hidden pockets of ice might be much more common on thesurface of the moon than scientists once suspected. That’s the conclusion of new research led byPaul Hayne, assistant professor in the .

Hayne and his colleagues examined the moon’s cold traps, or dark and shadowy regions of the lunarsurface that might be capable of harboring water ice. And, the team estimates, there might be ahuge number of these nooks and crannies spread across the moon—potentially 15,000 square feetof them, some just the size of pennies and others much larger.

“If we’re right, water is going to be more accessible for drinking water, for rocket fuel, everything thatNASA needs water for,” Hayne said.


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