Earth water on Moon! You just won't believe this awesome suggestion

NASA is planning to send a crew of astronauts in this decade. The project will be initiated by the Artemis I mission this year. In the first phase, Artemis I will bring an un-crewed flight test to build a foundation for human deep space exploration – basically to extend permanent human presence all the way to the Moon. And the key to NASA's Artemis project is finding water on the surface of the moon! That is the most essential substance required for humanity to survive. And this new research can add valuable information for the future projects linked to the Moon. What is more, it has been suggested, there might be quite lot of water on the moon and the source of some of that is none other than Earth itself!

Research led by University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute has suggested that the Hydrogen and oxygen ions releasing from Earth's upper atmosphere and merging with the moon can be one of the sources of the lunar water and ice. "Our Moon periodically moves through the magnetic tail of the Earth that contains terrestrial ions of hydrogen and oxygen. A possible density contrast might have been discovered that could be consistent with the presence of a water phase of potential terrestrial origin," the report mentions.

How scientists find the relation between Earth’s atmosphere and Moon water

According to the latest research, the moon's polar regions could contain up to 3,500 cubic kilometres (840 cubic miles) of surface permafrost or underground liquid water formed by ions that escaped Earth's atmosphere. That's about the same size as Lake Huron in North America, the world's eighth-largest lake. The amount was calculated using the smallest area model of 1 percent of Earth's atmospheric escape reaching the moon.

However, the majority of the water on the surface of the moon is believed to have been deposited by colliding asteroids and comets, while solar wind is also said to be the source of some lunar water.

Scientists suggest that hydrogen and oxygen ions are driven into the moon when it passes through the bottom of the Earth's magnetosphere, which is the teardrop-shaped bubble created by Earth's magnetic field that protects the planet from much of the continual stream of charged solar particles.