NASA makes major discovery on Moon, calling up scenes from a sci-fi classic.

MaryLiz Bender

Cosmic Perspective Co-Founder, Creative Director

NASA just made a major discovery in the Moon's Clavius Crater

On Monday, October 26, NASA announced a discovery that got our adrenaline pumping for several reasons. A team of scientists, using the SOFIA (the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) airborne telescope observatory, made a surprising detection of H20 water molecules in a sunlit area of the Moon’s surface. This shatters previous speculations that water could only exist in the form of ice in the Moon’s frigid regions, free of sunlight.

The original theory was backed up by a 2018 discovery of water ice in the dark crater rims of the South and North poles which maintain temperatures below -200 degrees Fahrenheit. Now that we know that water molecules exist in a warmer, sunlit area of the Moon’s surface, it raises hopes that water could be more prevalent and evenly spread across the lunar surface, potentially providing more accessible options for permanent human lunar bases.

Casey Honniball of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, explains the significance of this discovery:

Without a thick atmosphere, water on the sunlit lunar surface should just be lost to space… Yet somehow we’re seeing it. Something is generating the water, and something must be trapping it there.

Casey Honniball

To explore what mechanisms are at play and just how abundant water is on the lunar surface, scientists will begin to explore other sunlit areas of the Moon’s surface.

NASA eagerly announced that this was great news that “could” advance the Artemis program, which is currently focused on establishing sustainable bases on the Moon to support our further exploration of the Solar System.

Water is essential for deep space exploration: It is required to sustain human life, both for drinking water and the creation of breathable air, and it aids in the development of rocket fuels, which are made by splitting water molecules and liquefying the resulting hydrogen and oxygen.

Being able to create rocket fuel in space means we can establish pit-stop fueling stations where rockets can re-fuel on their way further into the Solar System. Once we are able to master this feat, we’d no longer have to carry so much heavy rocket fuel on the initial launch from Earth, thus bringing down launch costs or allowing us to increase our payload capacities. This is the dream goal, and finding water in such an unlikely area is a good sign that we could eventually find enough to achieve it, though it’s still too early to confirm. While NASA is still trying to determine whether there is enough water to support these efforts, dreams of a sustainable base in a more accessible area is looking far more promising.

Yet another Sci-Fi-to-reality Prophecy by Arthur C. Clarke?

This exciting discovery was made in the Moon’s Clavius Crater, which could be a better option for a permanent lunar base than where NASA had previously set their sights—in the Moon’s dark and freezing polar regions. My heart began to race at this news as I heard “Clavius Base” repeat in my brain. Since 2001: A Space Odyssey is my all-time favorite book-movie-duo, I am keenly aware of what a Clavius Moonbase could look like.

Clavius Base was already established in 1968

Psst: Haven’t read the book or seen the companion film, 2001: A Space Odyssey? *Gasp!* Skip this section and come back after you’ve done so.

In the story of 2001, “Clavius Base” is a major lunar research establishment inside Clavius Crater. One of the main characters, Dr. Heywood Floyd, travels to Clavius on a mysterious, top-secret mission. Upon arriving at the base, Floyd meets with American lunar officials, requiring that they take an oath of secrecy, and continue using the cover story of a base epidemic to keep outsiders from prying into their secret discovery. Soon after, he takes a group to further examine the nearby Tycho Monolith (TMA-1), discovered in the year 2001 in Tycho Crater, just north of the base.

In Kubrick’s masterpiece film, just after a short Moonbus trip to the excavation site, Floyd and his crew draw closer to the Monolith in one of cinema’s most tantalizing scenes.

Arthur C. Clarke: A Sci-Fi Prophet

It should come as no surprise, of course, if Arthur C. Clarke’s sci-fi vision turns to reality. The Author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and countless other classics, is known for inventing some of the most influential space technology to date. I learned from my friend and space historian, David Skogerboe (who wrote his thesis on this very subject), that Arthur was deemed the “Godfather of Satellites.” He invented them through his stories, which were always backed up by his rigorous scientific knowledge and research. He then very accurately predicted their overwhelming influence on our daily lives.

As one of our great space age prophets, he predicted that satellites would shape our global communications, navigation, war strategies, and thus, global culture—an idea that both excited and tortured him, as he could not decide how humans would use these machines… as a tool for peace or war? The verdict may still be out, but so far, even our many militarized satellites are used to keep the peace. However, if we begin to get messages from Europa or our Artificially-Intelligent creations begin to question our judgment, we best heed Arthur’s warning.

A day to celebrate imagination, exploration, and discovery

To sum up: It’s still too early to know if we can establish a Clavius Base with the amount of water that’s been detected on the Moon. But, the fact that we are constantly discovering more water in our Solar System (in areas we once thought inhospitable) bodes very well for the future of humanity in deep space. Meanwhile, if we continue to dream and explore, we are sure to make discoveries that will re-shape our human potential.

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