..ONE SMALL DROP FOR MAN; Enough water found on moon to support human settlers.

Byline: MIKE SWAIN 

FOR 40 years they told us it was an arid alien environment incapable of supporting life.

But yesterday scientists discovered the moon has its own water supply - and enough of it to sustain human settlers.

Lunar dust contains two pints of moisture to every ton. And experts reckon it would be possible to extract it and use it to aid human exploration.

Ever since the Apollo missions of 1969 to 1972, scientists had thought the moon was dry. Traces of water in rocks brought back by astronauts were put down to contact with damp earth air.

So it was a huge shock when Nasa recorders on the Indian Chandrayyan-1 satellite found the water traces. It is believed to be formed when hydrogen from solar winds combines with oxygenrich materials on the lunar surface.

The Nasa equipment detected wavelengths of light that indicate damp soil only an inch or so down. Scientists revealing the findings yesterday in the journal Science said harvesting the liquid was "a serious long-term option".

Hydrogen and oxygen, the components of water, could also provide fuel and air.

Dr Marc Norman of the Australian National University said: "This will have a big impact on plans for moon exploration.

China and the US will be interested in the distribution, size and origin of this resource for human exploration."

CAPTION(S):

WET Moon dust contains water