It's Official: Water Found on the Moon

[Roland99]

Source: Space.com

Since man first touched the moon and brought pieces of it back to Earth, scientists have thought that the lunar surface was bone dry. But new observations from three different spacecraft have put this notion to rest with what has been called "unambiguous evidence" of water across the surface of the moon.

The new findings, detailed in the Sept. 25 issue of the journal Science, come in the wake of further evidence of lunar polar water ice by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and just weeks before the planned lunar impact of NASA's LCROSS satellite, which will hit one of the permanently shadowed craters at the moon's south pole in hope of churning up evidence of water ice deposits in the debris field.

The moon remains drier than any desert on Earth, but the water is said to exist on the moon in very small quantities. One ton of the top layer of the lunar surface would hold about 32 ounces of water, researchers said.

"If the water molecules are as mobile as we think they are — even a fraction of them — they provide a mechanism for getting water to those permanently shadowed craters," said planetary geologist Carle Pieters of Brown University in Rhode Island, who led one of the three studies in Science on the lunar find, in a statement. "This opens a whole new avenue , but we have to understand the physics of it to utilize it."

Read more: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090923-moon-water-discovery.html

[Fearless]

1. If it held more it would evaporate into space.

Interesting though.

[Grinchie]

30. Spoken like a true Space-Physicist

Care to explain what the evaporation mechanism is, and the physics behind water seeking to defy gravity and flying off into space?

Not that I'm skeptical of your basic education on this matter, or of your ability to watch the Science channel, but a blanket statement like that is face of this article appears to be nothing more than an opinion on your part.

[Abacus]

35. nonexistent atmosphere + weak magnetic field + solar radiation

I'm not the person you queried, nor am I a physicist, but here is the gist of it. Water that isn't trapped evaporates due to low atmospheric pressure and the lack of a molten, spinning core means no magnetic field is generated beyond what was induced originally. The lack of a magnetic field leaves nothing to deflect the solar radiation, which picks off water molecules and hurtles them into the cosmos.

[Grinchie]

46. You realize that this is the Moon right?

The moon actually does have gravity, and it does have geomagnetic force, just that it is only unique to the moon. You seem to think that the moon is not acted upon by the solar wind, other than to blast water off into space, instead of interacting with the moons magnetism.

This just seems to me a rather shallow assumption, not based on any evidence other than conjecture, and sounds a little too Earth centric to be real science.

[Fearless]

47. No, they're completely right.

[Selatius]

50. The moon's magnetic field is very weak in comparison to earth. It is no defense against solar winds.

If earth had a magnetic field as weak as the moon's, the atmosphere on earth would be as thin as that of Mars if not thinner. It would be too thin to support life on earth. A strong magnetic field means that the solar winds emanating from the sun will not dip down low enough and start slowly blowing away the air molecules into space.

Mars is a great example. Once, it was warm enough to support running water. Its atmosphere was thick back then. Now, it is cold with an atmosphere too thin to hold much heat. The reason this is so is because Mars' core has cooled down to such a degree that it no longer generates a strong magnetic field. The rapid cool down in Mars' core has been attributed to the size of Mars itself, which is a fraction that of earth, so it loses heat more rapidly. Also, a colder core has meant less vulcanism on Mars. The two play off each other: Without a strong magnetic field to protect the atmosphere, the solar winds have gradually blown away Mars' atmosphere, and without vulcanism, there is no process to replenish the atmosphere because volcanoes no longer spew more gas into the atmosphere during eruptions.

Abacus is right in his assessment. While the moon does have gravity, it still won't prevent free-floating water molecules or any other free-floating molecule from being blown off the face of the moon by strong solar winds.

[mopinko]

42. perhaps you should take a physics class yourself

a little time spent studying ideal gasses, and you wouldn't ask that question.

[AsahinaKimi]

2. Makes sense..

Some comets contain ice. Surely some meteors contain ice. Get enough of them hitting that cratered surface, theres bound to be some water.. some where.

[shadowknows69]

3. And perhaps micro-organisms frozen within that ice

Not that they would survive but there may still be some sort of evidence of them left.

[rmp yellow]

4. Any chance there was once intelligent life on the moon?

Besides astronauts? Or not.

[Blandocyte]

5. Yes. But the chance is very, very small. eot.

[and-justice-for-all]

6. Uh, no...nt

[DRoseDARs]

7. If you mean evolved there: Not even remotely. If you mean ETs, there's no way for us to know. nt

[AsahinaKimi]

10. You might ask Richard C. Hoagland...

Then again, he might talk your ear off... He used to do that to Art Bell all the time.

[Phoonzang]

18. Well he's the "science advisor" on C2C now

Art got sick of him, but ol' George loves him.

[AlphaCentauri]

19. Bacteria?

[cabluedem]

58. No. Just like Earth no intelligent life found. nt

[Soylent Brice]

8. K&R

[Haole Girl]

9. I always suspected this...

don't know why. But I just did.

[AngryAmish]

11. Bomb the moon right fucking now!!!

[Dr.Phool]

12. Then give Halliburton a contract to bottle the water.

We'll be rich!

[grahamhgreen]

15. LOL both

[No Elephants]

34. Is it really that series!!!111!!!???

[vanbean]

13. I told them that twenty years ago, but they wouldn't listen.

[NewAgeThinker]

14. Ummmm This Articles Is Biased

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/space/article6846639.ece

They failed to mention WHO discovered Water on the Moon

Obviously NASA is VERY jealous of India!

[Javaman]

16. Newsflash: the moon is wet, repeat, the moon is wet. duh...oh wait. nt

[alfredo]

27. You know you have leaked the Project X challenge response.

[Toasterlad]

17. BLOW UP THE MOON!

[JonQ]

20. Cool, now we need to start shipping our convicts up there

and we'll be one more step closer to make this a reality:

[WriteDown]

21. The moon doesn't exist....

It is a hologram produced by NASA.

[Grinchie]

31. I'd bet the moon has more intelligence than you Writedown.

The sad thing is that I'd win that bet.

[WriteDown]

32. The moon landing never happened...

because there is no moon.

[CreekDog]

59. Wow, someone actually believed you were serious

They must read DU a lot. :rofl:

[KamaAina]

36. Did you forget something?

:sarcasm: , perhaps?

People have used the moon for navigation and other purposes since millennia before there ever was a NASA. For instance, Islam's holy month of Ramadan officially ends when a sliver of new moon is sighted from the observatory in Cairo.

[WriteDown]

37. No....

I just had to throw in the requisite moon conspiracy theory.

[U4ikLefty]

44. A nice change from the Chavez conspiracy theory. n/t

[Kablooie]

22. Surf's up, dude! Let's go to the moon and catch a wave!

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

23. k&r

[Uncle Joe]

24. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Roland.:thumbsup:

[kestrel91316]

25. Oh, yay. That means there might even be a fledgling ecosystem that we

can set about destroying for our own greedy purposes!!!! Cool!

[Dogtown]

38. Too true, kestrel91316 n/t

[TheCoxwain]

26. Breaking News .. Poland Spring just bought all the rights to the water .. for the 2056

launch of "Lunar Spring" - the water from the heaven above!

[LiberalFighter]

28. If there is water on the moon then they can make beer there too.

I know I know they need the other ingredients.

But you don't have to tell Bush that. Maybe, he will figure that Moon beer would be better than the crap he drinks now and want to make a trip there.

[Canuckistanian]

43. Any traces of hops or malted barley?

I'll bet they don't even HAVE any malted barley sensors.

[WheelWalker]

29. Moldy cheese

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

56. ...and as it turns out

Today is Moldy Cheese Day.

Seriously. Don't even ask me why I know this.

http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/October/moldycheeseday.htm

[Blue_Tires]

33. k+r

[ElboRuum]

39. In other news...

Aquafina to launch private lunar vehicle, stock price triples over announcement of new Aquafina product AquaLuna.

[Yavin4]

40. Everyone Knows That There's Life on the Moon

Where have you folks been?

[3iLL]

51. John Glenn & Neil Armstrong

The astronauts are starting to tell what they weren't allowed
to years ago.
They have admitted to seeing space stations and huge E.T.'s on
the moon.
They've said they were told to never return to the moon and
that they were never alone and were
constantly watched during moon missions.  That blast on the
moon will have consequences as we will soon have more
sightings on earth now.  If you don't believe me go on Utube
and type, " did John Glenn
see UFO's on the moon", and listen to the comments
yourself.  Our military technology has greatly advanced since
the Gov. dismantled a crashed UFO and copied its tech.

[RantinRavin]

52. Do you like Cocoa Puffs ?

Just something I'm wondering.

[muriel_volestrangler]

55. So John Glenn went in secret to the Moon. did he?

'Utube' is now proof, is it?

:banghead:

[SDuderstadt]

60. I suspect that John Glenn would be a bit surprised to find out that he had gone to the moon....

since the closest he ever got to it was earth orbit.

Don't tell me, let me guess. You're also a "truther" and you just know that "9/11 was an inside job", right?

[sofa king]

41. I suppose this bolsters the constant bombardment theory.

It was only recently controversial with regard to Earth, but some persistent scientists have claimed that the earth is being constantly bombarded by water-ice mini-comets, even today, to the tune of several tons of water a day.

If the same thing were happening on the Moon, that could explain the universal dispersal of water across its surface. It might also help explain the cratering of the Moon's surface.

I'm really hoping that comets continue to hit the moon often, and that the moon's surface is near saturation already, because that would make the moon's water a semi-renewable resource that could be exploited for space travel without radically changing the moon itself.

[rayofreason]

45. Nope.

The small icy comets idea is long dead. This find does nothing to support it.

And the icy comet idea is not recent - it is more that 20 years old.

[XemaSab]

48. Interesting

I wonder how lichens, bacteria, and fungi would grow there? And I wonder if they could be used for terraforming? :shrug:

[Earth_First]

49. It's official: There still is no rational healthcare policy in this country. n/t

[KansDem]

53. So? When they discover scotch, let me know...

I'll take my own glass! :D

[myrna minx]

54. K&R n/t

[L. Coyote]

57. It's Official: One billion people need safe water on the Earth.

Maybe we need to adjust our priorities??