Evidence that “large quantities” of water exist on the surface of the moon has been reported by India's first lunar mission.

In a discovery which could lead to a new space race, data from the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft suggests water is also still being formed on the moon.

The finding was made after researchers examined data from three moon missions. The reports, to be published in journal Science tomorrow, show that the water may be moving around, forming and reforming as particles become mixed up in dust.

Mylswamy Annadurai, the mission's project director at the Indian Space Research Organisation in Bangalore, said: “It's very satisfying. This was one of the main objectives, to find evidence of water on the moon.”

The unmanned craft, which was launched last October, was equipped with Nasa's “moon mineralogy mapper”, designed to find water by picking up the electromagnetic radiation emitted by minerals.

Professor Carle Pieters of Brown University in Rhode Island, who reviewed the data, said: “We're not talking about lakes, oceans or puddles. Water on the moon means molecules of water and hydroxyl [hydrogen and oxygen] that interact with molecules of rock.”

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