A new high-resolution map has confirmed that there is very little water on the Moon today, an international research team says.
According to researchers, the Moon's new detailed map released on Thursday also revealed never-before-seen craters at the lunar poles.
"The surface can tell us a lot about what's happening inside the Moon, but until now mapping has been very limited," said C.K Shum, professor of Earth sciences at Ohio State University, in the February 13 issue of Science.
"For instance, with this new high-resolution map, we can confirm that there is very little water on the Moon today, even deep in the interior. And we can use that information to think about water on other planets, including Mars," he added.
"This design significantly improved our ability to model gravity fields on the moon, and let us compute the main satellite's orbit more accurately than was possible before, especially over the far side the Moon," he explained.
Meanwhile, the research team found out that the Moon's surface is stiff, compared to the relative flexibility of the Earth's crust.
A laser altimeter (LALT) on the Japanese Selenological and Engineering Explorer (SELENE) and two smaller sub-satellites were used to get 15-kilometer images of the entire surface.
The new data will make it easier for geologists to carry out their future research missions.
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