In a major breakthrough, Scientists have gathered some of the most compelling evidence yet for the existence of water on the moon.

They have been finding signs of water on the moon since 2009 and, in 2018, confirmed the presence of water ice on the lunar surface.

The latest discovery will boost Nasa's hopes of establishing a lunar base. The aim is to sustain that base by tapping into the Moon's natural resources.

The findings have been published as two papers in the journal Nature Astronomy.

Now, Casey Honniball at Nasa’s ASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, US, and colleagues have detected a chemical signature that is unambiguously H2O, by measuring the wavelengths of sunlight reflecting off the moon’s surface.

The data was gathered by the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (Sofia), a modified Boeing 747 carrying a 2.7-metre reflecting telescope.

The US space agency has said it will send the first women and next man to the moon in 2024 to prepare for the "next giant leap" - human exploration of Mars as early as the 2030s.

The scientists think that it is stored in bubbles of lunar glass or between grains on the surface that protect it from the harsh environment.

They found these cold traps at both poles and concluded that "approximately 40,000 metres squared of the lunar surface has the capacity to trap water".