The Artemis Polar Survey Will Tell Us How Much Water the Moon Actually Has

One of the primary scientific objectives of the Artemis program is a systematic survey of the lunar polar regions to establish how much water ice is actually present and accessible. That question has significant implications for any sustained human presence on the Moon - water is not only essential for life support but a source of hydrogen and oxygen for rocket propellant. Getting a reliable answer to how much is there is foundational to everything that follows.

But Randall Carlson's attention is drawn to a broader implication in the same research. Carbon and nitrogen - the other key volatile elements a lunar colony would need - are abundant in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, which originate from asteroid parent bodies in the main belt. The Moon's supply of these elements arrived as a byproduct of impact history.

If asteroid parent bodies are the delivery mechanism, then the asteroid belt itself - the source of those parent bodies - must contain these elements in quantities that dwarf anything deposited on the lunar surface across geological time. The Moon is the delivery address. The asteroid belt is the warehouse. And the warehouse, Randall argues, is extraordinarily well stocked.