( CNN ) -- NASA said Friday it had discovered water on the moon , opening `` a new chapter '' that could allow for the development of a lunar space station . The discovery was announced by project scientist Anthony Colaprete at a midday news conference . `` I 'm here today to tell you that indeed , yes , we found water . And we did n't find just a little bit ; we found a significant amount '' -- about a dozen , two-gallon bucketfuls , he said , holding up several white plastic containers . The find is based on preliminary data collected when the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite , or LCROSS , intentionally crashed October 9 into the permanently shadowed region of Cabeus crater near the moon 's south pole . After the satellite struck , a rocket flew through the debris cloud , measuring the amount of water and providing a host of other data , Colaprete said . The project team concentrated on data from the satellite 's spectrometers , which provide the best information about the presence of water , Colaprete said . A spectrometer helps identify the composition of materials by examining light they emit or absorb . Although the goal of the $ 79 million mission was to determine whether there is water on the moon , discoveries in other areas are expected as studies progress , Colaprete and other scientists said at the briefing at NASA 's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field near San Francisco , California . `` The discovery opens a new chapter in our understanding of the moon , '' the space agency said in a written statement shortly after the briefing began . Michael Wargo , chief lunar scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington , said the latest discovery also could unlock the mysteries of the solar system . He listed several options as sources for the water , including solar winds , comets , giant molecular clouds or even the moon itself through some kind of internal activity . The Earth also may have a role , Wargo said . `` If the water that was formed or deposited is billions of years old , these polar cold traps could hold a key to the history and evolution of the solar system , much as an ice core sample taken on Earth reveals ancient data , '' NASA said in its statement . `` In addition , water and other compounds represent potential resources that could sustain future lunar exploration . ''
NASA : This could allow for development of lunar space station . Data obtained from satellite mission to moon last month . NASA : ` ` Indeed , yes , we found . '' ' ` ` opens a new chapter in our understanding of the Earth , '' agency says .