• NASA's recent research, published in JGR Planets, provides strong evidence that solar wind, a stream of charged particles from the Sun, is the main contributor to water formation on the Moon.
• Scientists simulated the lunar environment in a laboratory setting, bombarding lunar soil samples with simulated solar wind and observing the creation of water and hydroxyl molecules through chemical reactions with the regolith.
• This finding supports the hypothesis that solar wind protons react with oxygen in lunar minerals, producing water (H₂O) and hydroxyl (OH) molecules, explaining the observed daily variations in water signals on the Moon's surface.
• While other sources like meteorite impacts also contribute to water production, the continuous bombardment of solar particles makes solar wind the most significant factor in lunar water formation.
• This discovery has significant implications for future lunar missions like Artemis, as the presence of water, even in small amounts, is crucial for resource utilization and sustaining human presence on the Moon.