Water has recently been discovered in small amounts in moon rocks brought to Earth by the Apollo missions. It turns out that the moon is not as dry as many think
Idan Fevish, Galileo
The speculations of ancient astronomers about the abundance of water on the surface of the moon found no scientific evidence. But lo and behold, water was recently discovered in small amounts in moon rocks brought to Earth by the Apollo missions. Although this water does not flow over the surface of the moon, it adds a new and refreshing touch to its arid image, as it was depicted in the imagination of many.
Two space missions on behalf of NASA, intended for launch to the moon at the end of 2008, may for the first time provide an unequivocal answer to the question of the presence of water at its poles.
The popular opinion over the years has been that lunar water evaporated following an ancient and violent collision between the Earth and the ancient planet Theia. This collision, which created the moon according to the currently accepted theory in science, took place about 4.5 billion years ago, and the great heat emitted by its poles evaporated the many lunar waters, which were blown into space never to return.
In the XNUMXs, when the Clementine probe was sent to map the surface of the moon, a new theory emerged, which suggested that frozen water may exist at the lunar poles, deep below the surface.
We found water!
In a study recently published in the scientific journal Nature, researchers report for the first time that pieces of volcanic glass, originating from moon rocks and brought to Earth by the Apollo missions, contain water molecules. The researchers believe that the source of the water is inside the moon, and it was brought to its surface during volcanic eruptions about 3 billion years ago.
The research team, which included researchers from the Carnegie Institute of Science as well as other American researchers, used a modern method to analyze the lunar samples. Eric Hauri from the Department of National Magnetism, Carnegie Institution for Science, in collaboration with engineers from France, developed this method, called "secondary ion mass spectrometry" (or SIMS for short), and which is designed to monitor minute amounts of water in glasses and minerals. If during the last decades, the lower limit for detecting water molecules was a ratio of 50 water particles per million sample particles (ppm50), then after the invention of the method, the limit dropped to 5 ppm water in the sample. However, the researchers were in for a surprise when a high proportion of water was found in the samples, reaching up to 46 ppm. In the pieces of volcanic glass, the concentration of volatile substances (Volatiles) - substances with a low evaporation temperature, such as water - decreased in the transition from the core to the rim. This fact in itself indicates that 95% of the water was lost during the volcanic activity.
It follows from this that the initial amount of water in the magma during the volcanic eruptions is estimated to be 750 ppm. The researchers estimate that after the eruptions, a large amount of water, which was contained in the cooling volcanic material, evaporated into space as a result of the low lunar gravity. The rest of the water drifted and froze into ice, which is probably still present in the cold poles, where there are craters immersed in constant darkness.
Two space missions on behalf of NASA, intended for launch to the moon at the end of 2008 (and in the meantime have been postponed until at least February 2009), may provide for the first time an unequivocal answer to the question of the presence of water at the poles. One is called NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), and the other is the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite Mission (LCROSS). The discovery of water at the lunar poles will, without a doubt, be another milestone towards the settlement of humans on its surface in the future.
10 תגובות
Water on the moon would make it very easy for commercial companies to send astronauts there in order to
to mine helium there 3
Ami Bachar,
"Water from the sea on Earth will be transferred to the Moon and thus space will be freed up on Earth and at the same time a life-supporting atmosphere will begin to form on the Moon."
Apparently a life-supporting atmosphere could not have formed since the gravity on the moon is sixth
than that of the earth and therefore the atmosphere will evaporate into space.
There is no way to know the effect of the moon's gravity on man over time
And they may never return to Earth
To Ami Bachar
In my opinion, the settlement should be done in the polar region of the moon where inside one of the craters there is a chance to find water ice and the temperature will not change drastically. It is better not to spread the hard criminals into space, they will not be ambassadors of goodwill to foreigners who happen to meet them.
No. Ben-Nur
What was your impression of the article I sent you?
Happy Holidays
Sabdarmish Yehuda
To Ami Bachar
Two notes:
1. As far as I understand, there is no such concept as "the bright side of the moon" because the moon has turned around its axis and all its sides are exposed to the sun. It is true that the length of the day on the moon is
About a month (let's say about 30 days) about a month.
2. Please allow me to object to the idea of turning the moon into the garbage can of the Earth. Somehow, intuitively, I feel that the moon could be used in much more beneficial ways.
3. By the way. I've been wondering for a long time why the sun can't be turned into a garbage can for dangerous radioactive materials from Israel?
Ami Bachar:
In a life support system on the moon that will probably be very complex, delicate, dangerous and fragile,
It doesn't seem to me that the settlement will last more than one day if the base of the settlers are crazy and heavy criminals.
I was with you until the part about transferring water in the amount of a lake or sea to the moon...
Maybe in the future they will invent buildings with artificial gravity and people will live on the moon.
I wouldn't mind going on a Virgin spacecraft to spend 3 days in Pleasure City and go on a ground tour of the moon. 🙂
You can't breed on the moon. A human embryo does not develop properly with such weak gravity.
The side facing the sun will be covered with solar collectors and will feed us energy while darkening the lunar surface but (apparently) not harming life that apparently does not exist there. Underneath the solar collectors will be a robotic industry that will be supported by the energy harvested from the solar collectors and perhaps also by technology that knows how to use the natural resources of the moon. Robots will work and at the same time study the geology and (bio)geochemistry of the moon. Other robots will repair broken robots and build new robots. The entire control will be from Earth and artificial intelligence will play an important role in this system. Prisoners with death sentences or life sentences without the possibility of parole will be able to apply to convert their sentence and start a new life on the moon and will be the first human pioneers and maintenance people of the giant machine. Even "crazy people" who want to start a new life on the moon will be able to do so and the Earth will encourage them and support them financially, if possible. There, when energy is not a limiting factor and most of the work, if not all, is performed by machines for the well-being of the inhabitants of the earth and the moon, it is possible to create a system that will allow a "free life" for the inhabitants of the moon, thus minimizing the possibility of money-based crime. Everything is recycled: human and industrial sewage is the main source of life on the moon, with the base of the food pyramid being bacteria that have been carefully selected and genetically modified to increase their efficiency. Everything is carefully built and planned in advance in order to minimize mistakes: smart materials and cutting-edge technologies ensure a good start and an efficient establishment of the machines and the new inhabitants on the moon.
At the same time, devices are excavating and creating places to put seas and lakes on the moon, for the purposes of normalizing the next generations of the moon - these will no longer be pioneers or prisoners who pay a price for their crimes but as children of the moon who also deserve to live like the children of the earth. Water from the sea on Earth will be transferred to the Moon and thus space will be freed up on Earth and at the same time a life-supporting atmosphere will begin to form on the Moon. The dark side of the moon, the one where the temperature is well below zero, will serve as a good place to place the robots, in the next step. There is no life there because of the cold, but heat emitting devices will be designed efficiently so that even the emitted heat can be used. At the same time, the face is turned to the planet Mars and the moon Titan as at every stage lessons are drawn from past mistakes and learning how to bypass them.
Greetings friends,
Ami Bachar
Moon landing… I'm not sure. But definitely a good place to set up a robotic industry and a place to emit toxic substances.