The moon may hold water in more places and in larger amounts than scientists have suggested in the past. The finding is based on two studies – published in Nature Astonomy – that examined new data from the U.S. space agency NASA.

The discovery could be important for planned, long-term human bases on the moon. It could mean that enough resources exist on the moon itself to provide drinking water and possibly help produce rocket fuel.

Scientists have suggested the source of the water may have been comets, asteroids, solar wind or interplanetary dust. The new research provides evidence the water may be surviving on sunlit lunar surfaces because it is attached to minerals.

Researchers say they were able to reconstruct the size of the cold traps and where they sit from images and temperature readings from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. They identified cold traps as small as a few meters across and others as wide as 30 kilometers.

Jacob Bleacher ,the chief exploration scientist for NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, told reporters the agency believes it is very important to find out more about where the water came from and how accessible it is.

“Water is extremely critical for deep space exploration. It’s a resource of direct value for our astronauts,” Bleacher said. He noted that water is heavy and costly to transport from Earth.