Researchers at the University of Maryland, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the University of Hawaii published a study in Science Advances on July 31, 2026, revealing that seismic waves from moonquakes can help locate and measure hidden water ice deposits beneath the lunar surface for future Artemis missions.
Finding water on the Moon has always presented a fundamental visibility problem. Orbiting satellites can photograph the desolate lunar landscape and scan the uppermost layer of topsoil, but they remain essentially blind to what lies deep beneath the ground. To solve this, a multi-institutional research team has turned to an unexpected tool: moonquakes.
By analyzing how mechanical vibrations travel through the lunar interior, scientists have established a predictive framework for locating ice reserves trapped in permanently shadowed craters. The findings, published in Science Advances, arrive just as space agencies ramp up preparations for crewed lunar bases.
Why Lunar Ice Matters for Artemis and Beyond
NASA is planning a crewed return to the Moon’s south polar region in 2028, complete with plans to build a Moon base. Transporting every drop of water, every tank of breathable oxygen, and every canister of rocket fuel from Earth carries staggering logistical and financial penalties. Discovering local resources changes the economic equation entirely.
“It’s crucial to identify any materials on the moon that an astronaut can make use of while they’re up there. Since they will be limited by the few resources they brought from Earth, anything they find on the moon will help them basically live off the land, especially for longer-term missions or outposts.”
Nicholas Schmerr, associate professor in UMD’s Department of Geological, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences
Once extracted, purified melted ice can supply drinking water for astronauts. Separating the hydrogen and oxygen elements using electricity provides both breathable air and rocket propellant. Beyond immediate life support, the ice trapped inside these ancient, dark craters holds pristine records from the early solar system. Because the surrounding rocks date back roughly four billion years, analyzing trapped volatiles could clarify how water was delivered across the inner solar system and ultimately how Earth’s oceans formed.
How Seismic Waves Detect Hidden Ice
Because satellites cannot pierce deep soil, geologists devised another way to map frosty reserves by treating seismic waves from moonquakes as locator beacons. On Earth, seismologists know that mechanical vibrations alter their velocity depending on the density, stiffness, and elasticity of the materials they traverse.
Frozen water changes the physical properties of lunar soil significantly. Ice stiffens the surrounding regolith, allowing seismic vibrations to travel two to three times faster than they move through dry dust. Furthermore, ice-rich layers can reflect seismic energy rather than letting it pass through undisturbed, creating an acoustic echo effect.
“We can use seismic waves to not just see whether ice is present but also roughly how much of it there is.”
Nicholas Schmerr, co-author of the study
A Three-Pronged Experimental Approach
To test whether these seismic signatures hold up under lunar conditions, the research team combined three distinct scientific methods. Harrison Lisabeth, a rock physicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of Maryland alumnus, experimented with volcanic rock sourced from Arizona that mimics the composition of lunar dust when crushed. By freezing the material, Lisabeth used X-rays to observe exactly how ice crystals form inside microscopic spaces between individual grains.
Simultaneously, Matthew Siegler of the University of Hawaii built detailed temperature models for the lunar south pole. These maps pinpointed specific craters that maintain temperatures low enough to preserve ice across billions of years. At the University of Maryland, researchers used computer simulations to model small moonquakes moving through simulated underground deposits, confirming that ice produces distinct, measurable shifts in seismic wave behavior.
Upcoming Lunar Missions Will Put Predictions to the Test
The theoretical models developed in the study will soon face real-world validation. China’s Chang’e-7 mission is scheduled to land near Shackleton Crater in late 2026, carrying a seismometer close to several suspected ice deposits. Meanwhile, NASA’s Artemis program is slated to deploy the Lunar Environmental Monitoring Station in 2028, an instrument designed for seismic exploration that Schmerr helped develop.
While no one has yet physically measured water ice buried beneath the lunar surface, researchers now possess a concrete blueprint of what signals to record. That diagnostic capability marks the essential first step toward sustainable human exploration beyond low Earth orbit.
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