NASA’s Water-Hunting Tool Will Help Scout Moon’s South Pole

Apollo 17 geologist and astronaut Harrison Schmitt next to a large bolder on the Taurus-Littrow landing site on the Moon. 

NASA

NASA is joining international partners to hunt for ice on the Moon in support of future human exploration. The agency is providing a water-detecting instrument, the Neutron Spectrometer System (NSS), to the Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) mission led by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation).  

The instrument, which detects ice under the lunar surface, will be installed on LUPEX’s lunar rover planned to arrive at the Moon no earlier than 2028. NASA’s support of LUPEX is part of an ongoing effort to identify and characterize lunar water and other materials that easily evaporate near the Moon’s South Pole. 

Water is a critical material for NASA’s plans to develop an enduring presence on the Moon. Instead of relying solely on resources carried from Earth, astronauts could use the Moon’s water for breathable air, rocket fuel, and more. The first step is to find deposits of meaningful quantities of water close to the surface to mark potential landing areas for future astronauts. The water on the Moon is mostly found as molecules within lunar regolith, the dusty and rocky material that covers the Moon’s surface, but there may be ice deposits below the surface of the lunar South Pole. Once we better understand the quantity and quality of the available resources, we can learn how to harness it for exploration.  

“There is currently a gap in our understanding of how lunar ice is distributed at small scales, from 10s of centimeters up to 10s of kilometers,” said Rick Elphic, NSS lead at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, where the instrument was developed in collaboration with Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto, California. “The only way to understand the ‘where’ and ‘how much’ of lunar ice is by exploring on the surface at these scales.”  

How neutrons signal water 

NASA’s Neutron Spectrometer System instrument will search for signs of water ice on the Moon’s surface aboard a lunar rover belonging to the Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) mission led by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation).

NASA/Warren Davis

Scientists can search for water on the Moon without drilling into the surface. Instead, they hunt for concentrations of hydrogen, the H in H₂O. Past missions in lunar orbit have found signs of water at the Moon’s poles, but ground missions are needed to build detailed maps of location and quantity.  

Instruments like NSS can infer the presence of hydrogen by detecting interactions with particles called neutrons. Neutrons are constantly rattling around in the lunar soil, and they’re about the same size as hydrogen atoms. When these two particles interact, fewer medium-energy neutrons are ejected from the soil. The absence of medium-energy neutrons suggests more of the particles are interacting with hydrogen underground, a deficit that can be measured with the right tools.  

The NSS instrument uses a “gas proportional counter” to detect neutrons bouncing out of the lunar soil. It features two tubes that contain a rare gas called helium-3 that is very sensitive to neutrons. When neutrons strike the helium-3 gas atoms, the gas produces electrical pulses that can be counted to infer the presence and quantity of hydrogen up to three feet underground.  

Series of water-hunters 

Ongoing investigation of the Moon’s water will inform how astronauts might access it in the future. To that end, NASA researchers at Ames have developed a series of NSS instruments intended to ride aboard different missions to investigate sites at the Moon’s South Pole.  

The first Moon-bound NSS instrument in the series was carried aboard Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander, Astrobotic Peregrine Mission One, which launched in January 2024. That mission came to an end without touching down on the lunar surface, but the NSS aboard powered on and operated on multiple days over the course of the 10-day mission. These operations successfully captured data about the particle background of deep space, which strongly supported NSS operations on future missions.  

NASA’s VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) mission, part of the agency’s Artemis campaign, will carry another NSS. As part of NASA’s ongoing Commercial Lunar Payload Services effort, a fourth NSS instrument will ride aboard the MoonRanger “micro rover” developed by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.  

“The three upcoming NSS rover expeditions will tell us what kinds of places on the Moon are most likely to host ice,” Elphic said. “Missions to the lunar surface can then be planned to similar sites where ice can be found.” 

The Neutron Spectrometer System was jointly developed by NASA’s Ames Research Center and Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto, California.  

For more information on the science of water on the Moon, visit:  https://science.nasa.gov/moon/moon-water-and-ices 

Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
Headquarters, Washington

Source: NASA’s Water-Hunting Tool Will Help Scout Moon’s South Pole  - NASA

A Hidden Force Inside Your DNA Is Controlling Your Cells

When we think about DNA, we usually imagine something static—like a blueprint locked safely inside our cells. But what if that blueprint is constantly moving, reshaping itself, and actively influencing who we are at a cellular level? That’s exactly what scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies are uncovering—and it could reshape how we understand diseases like cancer and developmental disorders.

Each cell in your body contains about two meters of DNA, somehow packed into a tiny nucleus. To make this possible, DNA folds into complex 3D structures.
But here’s the twist: this folding isn’t permanent.
Instead, DNA is constantly looping, unlooping, folding, and unfolding—a dynamic process that plays a direct role in turning genes on or off.

To organize itself, DNA forms loops using a protein complex called cohesin, assisted by another protein called NIPBL. These loops aren’t random—they help bring distant parts of DNA into contact, allowing genes to interact with the elements that activate them.

Think of it like this:
instead of walking across a huge room, DNA just folds the room so two distant points touch.

The big discovery?
Not all parts of DNA move the same way—and that matters.

·         Fast-changing loops → found in active genes (genes being used)

·         Slow-changing loops → found in inactive regions

In other words, the speed and flexibility of DNA movement directly influence which genes are expressed. One of the most fascinating insights is how this movement helps cells maintain their identity.

·         In heart cells → DNA dynamics prioritize heart-related genes

·         In neurons → they focus on brain-related genes

This constant folding and unfolding acts like a reminder system, reinforcing what a cell is supposed to do.

A helpful analogy:
your DNA is basically giving your cells a continuous pep talk—“Stay a neuron. Keep being a heart cell.” If this dynamic folding process is disrupted, the consequences can be serious.

Scientists link faulty DNA organization to:

·         Certain cancers

·         Developmental disorders

·         Conditions like autism-related syndromes

That’s because improper folding can activate the wrong genes—or silence the right ones. Understanding DNA motion opens the door to new medical breakthroughs.

If researchers can control or correct how DNA folds, they may be able to:

·         Prevent harmful gene activation

·         Restore normal cell behavior

·         Develop targeted therapies for complex diseases

In short, this research doesn’t just explain how life works—it could help us fix it when it breaks. DNA isn’t just a static instruction manual.
It’s more like a living, moving system—constantly reshaping itself to keep your cells functioning properly.

And the more we learn about its motion, the closer we get to understanding and potentially controlling the very foundations of life.

So the next time you think about DNA, don’t picture something still.

Picture something alive.

Source: https://www.salk.edu/news-release/does-the-motion-of-our-dna-influence-its-activity/

Journal article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-026-02516-y 

Source: A Hidden Force Inside Your DNA Is Controlling Your Cells – Scents of Science