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NASA-funded scientists estimate from recent research that the volume of water molecules locked inside minerals in the Moon's interior could exceed the amount of water in the Great Lakes.
Scientists at the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory in Washington, D.C., along with other scientists across the nation, determined that the water was likely present early in the Moon's formation history as hot magma started to cool and crystallize. This finding means water is native to the Moon.
"For over 40 years, we thought the Moon was dry," said Francis McCubbin of Carnegie. "In our study, we looked at hydroxyl, a compound with an oxygen atom bound with hydrogen, and apatite, a water-bearing mineral, in the assemblage of minerals we examined in two Apollo samples and a lunar meteorite."