According to a Jan. 10, 2013 story in Bloomberg, a company called Xylem has won a $300,000 contract from NASA to develop specialized mass spectrometer technology that could be placed on a lunar probe called Resolve to search for deposits of water inside permanently shadowed craters on the moon. Xylem is most famous for providing pumps to clear flooded areas after Hurricane Sandy.
Resolve is a potential lunar probe under development by NASA and the Canadian space agency, which would include a Canadian built rover called Artemis Jr. and a drill that would probe underneath the lunar surface for deposits of water. A mass spectrometer would measure the mass and concentrations of atoms of lunar material to ascertain whether water ice is present. If the project receives authorization and funding, Resolve could be on the lunar surface by 2017.
Lunar water, which has been confirmed in significant quantities by a variety of space probes, is of vast importance for plans of future space exploration. Water can help sustain a lunar settlement. Water can also be refined into rocket fuel, making the moon into a kind of gas station for spacecraft headed deeper into the solar system.
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