One of the mission's major goals is to hunt for water-based ice which, scientists say, could support human habitation on the Moon in future. It could also be used for supplying propellant for spacecraft headed to Mars and other distant destinations. Scientists say the surface area that remains in permanent shadow there is huge and could hold reserves of water ice.
The lander and the rover are carrying five scientific instruments which will help discover the physical characteristics of the surface of the Moon, the atmosphere close to the surface and the tectonic activity to study what goes on below the surface.
You can get some really exotic ices in such extreme environments
So saying water-based ice makes sense, yeah water ice probably would have been more concise but may not have been as accurate
Say you have water ice with a high concentration of some other gasses dissolved in it or other liquids that have frozen within it, saying water ice would be less accurate than water-based ice.
I'm happy for the team and excited to see what they find! Large amounts of water there would change the logistics for deep space exploration significantly.
It would be wonderfully convenient if we had a great big gas station nearby.