ISRO, NASA to announce discovery of water on the moon

Bangalore: ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair today described as "path-breaking" the news that payloads onboard the Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter had found evidence of water on the moon. He also pointed out that no lunar odyssey so far had given such a "positive" conclusion.

In the image sent by the M3 of the Orientale region, the left image in colour is a composite of 28 separate wavelengths of light reflected from the moon. The red colour shows changes in rock and mineral composition, while the green shows the existence of iron-bearing minerals. The photo on the right provides a detailed view of the surface of the moon.

"There is confirmation of traces of water. It is a path-breaking event as far as Chandrayaan-1 mission is concerned. It is very, very significant. So far, no mission has confirmed the presence of water positively," he told news agencies.

''Our instruments such as the Moon Impact Probe and NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper have found evidence of water on the moon,'' an ISRO spokesperson S Satish informed the media. ''The data obtained from these instruments show there is evidence of water.''

According to Satish, the Indian Space Research Organisation will release a statement later today along with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The discovery will also be detailed later today by NASA at a news conference.

The Indian space agency will hold a press conference at 10 am tomorrow, Satish said.

The discovery is set to change the face of lunar exploration, scientists and experts around the world are suggesting.