The Moon Doesn’t Have Enough Water For Musk’s ‘Self-Growing’ City Of Millions, Researchers Say

Recent analysis by planetary scientists indicates that the Moon's available water ice may be insufficient to support the immense water requirements for a hypothetical self-sustaining city capable of housing millions of inhabitants, as envisioned by entrepreneur Elon Musk. This assessment challenges projections for large-scale lunar colonization and resource utilization.

The viability of such ambitious lunar settlements hinges on accessing and processing local resources, with water being a fundamental necessity for drinking, sanitation, agriculture, and industrial processes. Previous estimates of lunar water ice deposits, primarily concentrated at the poles, have been re-evaluated in light of this new research, raising questions about the scalability of current water extraction and recycling technologies for a city of this magnitude.