A mission by NASA‘s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) has successfully uncovered water in one of the moon’s craters that are permanently hidden from the sun and Earth’s view.

NASA attributes the discovery as the start of a new chapter in our understanding of the moon.

Scientists have been long speculating that water must exist on the moon, with a major breakthrough last September when evidence of polar ice on the moon was confirmed by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. However, the recent LCROSS mission was the first mission to actually observe and confirm water on the moon.

“We’re unlocking the mysteries of our nearest neighbor and, by extension, the solar system,” said Michael Wargo, the chief lunar scientist at NASA. “The moon harbors many secrets, and LCROSS has added a new layer to our understanding.”

Water is believed to be one of the key necessities to sustain life. If the water unlocked in the moon had been there for billions of years, it could hold secrets as to the evolution of life itself, or even indicate that life was present on the moon before, even in a cellular level.

The LCROSS and a companion space rocket unit made twin impacts the the moon’s Cabeus crater, which is permanently hidden from the sun and our view, last October 9. The material that was ejected was analyzed, with scientists confirming that there is trace amounts of water from the crater itself.

“The concentration and distribution of water and other substances requires further analysis, but it is safe to say Cabeus holds water,” says Anthony Colaprete, the LCROSS project scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California.

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