Scientists find even more evidence of water on the moon
By Daily Mail Reporter
22nd July 2010
Scientists have discovered that there is water everywhere on the moon. Analysis of moon rock suggests that a chemically altered form of water is bound up within a volcanic lunar mineral. The findings lead experts to believe that water is widespread on both the outside and inside of the moon.
Scientists have discovered that there are vast quantities of water locked away on the moon
And the discovery means that it would be far easier for humans to one day set up a space station on the moon's surface. Tapping a local supply of water would be a lot more convenient than ferrying it from Earth while it can also be split into its two component gases. Hydrogen can be turned into rocket fuel to enable astronauts to explore other planets in the solar system and oxygen is vital for breathing. To be precise, the scientists found evidence of hydroxide ions - negatively charged molecules identical to those of water but missing one hydrogen atom.
The hydroxide was discovered in apatite, a calcium phosphate mineral, the researchers reported in the journal Nature. The discovery was made after US researchers examined a basalt rock underlying the moon's surface that was formed by lava flows billions of years ago and brought back to Earth by the 1971 Apollo 14 mission. Professor George Rossman, of the California Institute of Technology, said: 'If you heat up the apatite, the hydroxyl ions will 'decompose' and come out as water.'
The team said this provides 'robust evidence for the presence of water in the interior of the moon from where some lunar rocks were derived. This demonstrates a closer chemical and geologic relationship between the Earth and moon than previously known.
We must now re-evaluate the volatile inventories of the moon, relative to the Earth.' Ubiquitous water on the moon could mean a human settlement on the moon is not so far-fetched. Currently the endeavour would be very expensive. For example, it costs $25,000 (£16,500) to take one pint of water to the moon. But if scientists devise processes to easily recover this water from the lunar rocks for drinking water and fuel, a human settlement is not out of reach. Space scientist Professor Lawrence Taylor, of Tennessee University, said: 'Now we have ready sources of water that can be consumed by plants and humans but also electrolysed into liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to develop rocket fuel.'Until the recent discovery of water in and on the moon, it was going to be a very energy-intensive endeavour to separate these elements from the lunar rocks and soil.'
The breakthrough follows identification last year by Prof Taylor and colleagues of 'lunar dew' on the moon's surface - absorbed 'water' in the uppermost layers of the soil. This debunked previous beliefs held since the return of the first Apollo rocks that the moon was bone-dry. Prof Taylor said: 'The moon has been considered to be bone dry ever since the return of the first Apollo rocks.' But unlike lunar dew which is thought to come from an outside source such as solar wind which brings hydrogen into contact with the moon's oxygen, the new water is internal and arises from an entirely different origin. Its presence is a mystery but it may have been added by impacting ice comets during or after the formation of the moon and Earth. The existence of volcanoes on the moon more than four billion years ago gave the researchers a clue since their dynamics on Earth are mostly driven by water.
The finding also has deep implications for how the moon and the Earth formed. It is generally believed the moon was created when the early Earth was hit by a Mars-sized proto-planet called Theia, melting and vaporising itself and a large chunk of the Earth. The cloud of particles created by the impact later congealed to form the moon, which supposedly was devoid of highly volatile elements such as hydrogen and chlorine. However, the researchers' discovery of these volatiles challenges this theory. Co-researcher Dr Yang Liu, also of Tennessee University, said: 'If water in the moon was residue water kept during the giant impact, it is surprising that water survived the impact at all because less volatile elements, such as sodium and potassium, are strongly depleted.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1296579/Scientists-huge-supply-water-moon.html#ixzz0uR4zDClK
By Daily Mail Reporter
22nd July 2010
Scientists have discovered that there is water everywhere on the moon. Analysis of moon rock suggests that a chemically altered form of water is bound up within a volcanic lunar mineral. The findings lead experts to believe that water is widespread on both the outside and inside of the moon.
Scientists have discovered that there are vast quantities of water locked away on the moon
And the discovery means that it would be far easier for humans to one day set up a space station on the moon's surface. Tapping a local supply of water would be a lot more convenient than ferrying it from Earth while it can also be split into its two component gases. Hydrogen can be turned into rocket fuel to enable astronauts to explore other planets in the solar system and oxygen is vital for breathing. To be precise, the scientists found evidence of hydroxide ions - negatively charged molecules identical to those of water but missing one hydrogen atom.
The hydroxide was discovered in apatite, a calcium phosphate mineral, the researchers reported in the journal Nature. The discovery was made after US researchers examined a basalt rock underlying the moon's surface that was formed by lava flows billions of years ago and brought back to Earth by the 1971 Apollo 14 mission. Professor George Rossman, of the California Institute of Technology, said: 'If you heat up the apatite, the hydroxyl ions will 'decompose' and come out as water.'
The team said this provides 'robust evidence for the presence of water in the interior of the moon from where some lunar rocks were derived. This demonstrates a closer chemical and geologic relationship between the Earth and moon than previously known.
We must now re-evaluate the volatile inventories of the moon, relative to the Earth.' Ubiquitous water on the moon could mean a human settlement on the moon is not so far-fetched. Currently the endeavour would be very expensive. For example, it costs $25,000 (£16,500) to take one pint of water to the moon. But if scientists devise processes to easily recover this water from the lunar rocks for drinking water and fuel, a human settlement is not out of reach. Space scientist Professor Lawrence Taylor, of Tennessee University, said: 'Now we have ready sources of water that can be consumed by plants and humans but also electrolysed into liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to develop rocket fuel.'Until the recent discovery of water in and on the moon, it was going to be a very energy-intensive endeavour to separate these elements from the lunar rocks and soil.'
The breakthrough follows identification last year by Prof Taylor and colleagues of 'lunar dew' on the moon's surface - absorbed 'water' in the uppermost layers of the soil. This debunked previous beliefs held since the return of the first Apollo rocks that the moon was bone-dry. Prof Taylor said: 'The moon has been considered to be bone dry ever since the return of the first Apollo rocks.' But unlike lunar dew which is thought to come from an outside source such as solar wind which brings hydrogen into contact with the moon's oxygen, the new water is internal and arises from an entirely different origin. Its presence is a mystery but it may have been added by impacting ice comets during or after the formation of the moon and Earth. The existence of volcanoes on the moon more than four billion years ago gave the researchers a clue since their dynamics on Earth are mostly driven by water.
The finding also has deep implications for how the moon and the Earth formed. It is generally believed the moon was created when the early Earth was hit by a Mars-sized proto-planet called Theia, melting and vaporising itself and a large chunk of the Earth. The cloud of particles created by the impact later congealed to form the moon, which supposedly was devoid of highly volatile elements such as hydrogen and chlorine. However, the researchers' discovery of these volatiles challenges this theory. Co-researcher Dr Yang Liu, also of Tennessee University, said: 'If water in the moon was residue water kept during the giant impact, it is surprising that water survived the impact at all because less volatile elements, such as sodium and potassium, are strongly depleted.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1296579/Scientists-huge-supply-water-moon.html#ixzz0uR4zDClK
