A microwave being developed by NASA could be the key to extracting water in the form of ice on the lunar surface. If a way to gather the water is made practical then the lunar water could help sustain astronauts and even propel missions to Mars.

The possible presence of water on the moon has been detected by three different spacecraft - India's Chandrayaan-1 and NASA's Cassini and Deep Impact probes. Yes, the possibility of water has been detected, but it does not appear to be abundant. Only a glass full of water may be found in an area the size of a major league baseball field.

Lunar astronauts could take the harvested water and use it as drinking water and/or split it into oxygen and hydrogen to make rocket fuel for their return journeys. That would slash launch costs, since it would reduce the amount of fuel they would need to lug with them from Earth. Rocket fuel produced on the moon might even help mount a human mission to Mars. Because of the moon's weaker gravity, it would take less energy to loft fuel into space for a Mars mission from the lunar surface than it would from Earth.

[Source: New Scientist]