Recent Findings of Water on the Lunar Surface of The Moon
On June 18th, 2009, NASA launched the LCROSS (short for Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) mission to the Moon from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A few months later, on October 9th, NASA’s probe discovered a significant amount of water on the Moon in a little 20-meter crater called Cabeus. This discovery completely changed scientists’ view of the Moon.
How Much Water Is On The Moon?
The argument that the Moon is a dry, desolate place is no longer true. There’s more water on the Moon than originally thought. Widespread water has been detected; there’s water ice on the Moon, and lots of it!
NASA’s LCROSS probe discovered beds of water ice at the lunar South Pole. In the view of their instruments, the LCROSS team estimated about 100 kilograms of water — the equivalent of about a dozen 2-gallon buckets. When melted, the water ice could potentially be used to drink or to extract hydrogen for rocket fuel.
The discovery of water struck only one spot, but there’s a good chance that, like oil, once it’s found, there’s a likely chance that more will be found nearby.
“This water finding doesn’t mean that the Moon is wet by Earth standards, but is likely wetter than some of the driest deserts on Earth, said Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS project scientist and principal investigator from NASA’s Ames Research Center.
Even this relatively small amount of water will be valuable to possible future missions.
How Did They Find Proof of Water?
The findings of water on the Moon confirmed suspicions that were announced previously. People thought water might be found on the Moon’s surface, but they couldn’t be sure. But the LCROSS mission proved that there is, indeed, water on the lunar surface.
“We see evidence for the water in two instruments. And that’s what makes us really confident in our findings,” Colaprete said. While the findings don’t mean there are pools of liquid water sitting on the Moon, it does mean that there is water potentially tied up or mixed in the minerals that make up the lunar dirt.
In an effort to create a debris plume that could be analyzed by scientists for signs of water ice on the Moon, the signs of water were visible in the data from spectrographic measurements (which measure light absorbed at different wavelengths, revealing different compounds).
The signature of water from the $79 million spacecraft was seen in both infrared and ultraviolet spectroscopic measurements. “This is ice that’s potentially been there for billions of years,” said Doug Cooke, associate administrator at Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters.
The confirmation that water exists begs the question of where the water came from. There have been a number of theories about the origin of the water, including debris from comet impacts, interaction of the lunar surface with the solar wind, and even giant molecular clouds passing through the solar system.
What’s Next Now That They Have Found Water On The Moon?
Experts say that the discovery of water on the Moon may revolutionize our understanding of the nature of the Moon’s surface, and it has geologists eager to go back to the Moon and dig up some lunar dirt.
The notable secrets that the Moon has been keeping, for maybe billions of years, are now being discovered to the joy of scientists and space enthusiasts.
Scientists also want to examine their data further to figure out what state the water is in. Based on initial findings, it is likely that water ice is spread between dirt particles on the lunar surface. They want to figure out what kinds of processes move, destroy, and create the water on the surface and how long the water has been there.
The water LCROSS detected “would be water you could drink, water like any other water,” Colaprete said. “If you could clean it, it would be drinkable water.”
This news brings us into a new era of lunar exploration. The phase ‘Moon 2.0’ has even been formed by an international group of companies and governments that are planning to try and use the ice and other unique resources of the Moon to help increase human influence, and to help monitor and protect the Earth. Finding water on the Moon could allow for the development of a lunar space station.
NASA plans to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020 for extended missions on the lunar surface. Finding usable amounts of ice on the Moon would be an advantage for that effort since it could be a vital local resource to support a lunar base.
Resources About Finding Water On The Moon
Water on the Moon – Investigation of this phenomenon
Description of the Moon Details
Colonizing the Moon – Water discovery fuels hope to colonize the Moon
Leslie Brown is a writer and editor with over 20 years of experience in book publishing, information technology, and web content. She has edited books of fiction and non-fiction and is currently providing web content for two web sites. Leslie has a B.A. in Creative Writing, and she has also done some graduate work in technical documentation. She lives near Seattle, Washington, across from a lake, where she often plays in the water with her rescued golden retriever.
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