Editing Luna 24 (section)

== Detection of water in returned samples ==
{{see also|Lunar water}}

In February 1978, Soviet scientists M. Akhmanova, B. Dement'ev, and M. Markov of the Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytic Chemistry published a paper claiming a detection of water fairly definitively.<ref name=Geokhimiya_rus/><ref name=Geochemistry_eng/> Their study showed that the samples returned to [[Earth]] by the probe contained about 0.1% water by mass, as seen in infrared absorption spectroscopy (at about 3 [[Micrometre|μm]] wavelength), at a detection level about 10 times above the threshold,<ref name=Crotts_hist1/> although Crotts points out that "The authors... were not willing to stake their reputations on an absolute statement that terrestrial contamination was completely avoided."<ref name=Crotts_hist2/>  This would represent the first detection of water content on the surface of the moon, although that result has not been confirmed by other researchers.<ref name=Spudis/>