Discovery fuels colonisation dreams

The Moon is generally thought to be a dry place,although scientists have long suspected that ice might be trapped in cold,permanently shadowed craters.

The Moon is generally thought to be a dry place,although scientists have long suspected that ice might be trapped in cold,permanently shadowed craters. But researchers have now found that theres water on the sunlit surface of the moon. The first hint that the water might be there came from a NASA instrument Moon Mineralogy Mapper on board the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft launched by India to orbit the moon.

What is the lunar surface like?

The dark and featureless lunar plains are called maria,Latin for seas,since they were believed by ancient astronomers to be filled with water. The lighter-coloured regions are the terrae,or more commonly just highlands. The surface of the Moon is marked by impact craters from collision with asteroids and comets.

Why should there be water on the Moon?

Simply for the same reason that theres water on Earth. A favourite theory is that water,either as water by itself or as its components of hydrogen and oxygen,was deposited on Earth during its early history by the impacts of comets and asteroids. Because the Moon shares the same area of space as Earth,it should have received its share of water as well. But the sunlight splits much of this water into its constituent elements of hydrogen and oxygen,both of which would escape into space because of weak gravity.

Is the water on the Moon in the liquid state?

The water seems to be a very thin film of molecules stuck to the surface,says Jessica Sunshine of the University of Maryland-College Park. Its not liquid water,its not frozen water and its not gaseous water. Its none of those things, said Sunshine.

What happens next?

Proponents of human space travel hope this discovery could put pressure on the White House to follow through with the George W Bush administrations plans to return to the moon by 2020 and to construct Earths first off-world colony there. The discovery lends weight to a new view of a friendlier solar system,where water suddenly seems to be everywhere. Last years Phoenix mission to Mars polar region found ice just beneath the landers struts.

Source: Wikipedia/LATimes/science.nasa.gov