Astronomers have found direct evidence of surface exposed ice water on the moon.
Sally Dodson-Robinson, a professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Delaware, can discuss the discovery made by the Indian probe Chandrayaan-1l; why water molecules end up in the lunar soil; and what it means.
Water is formed in situ (locally) on the lunar surface by solar wind protons implanting in the lunar soil and reacting with oxygen atoms, she said. The Moon Mineralogy Mapper mapped the water molecule distribution and showed that there is water distributed across the moon's surface, although the concentration is lower than in Earth's driest deserts. With such a low water molecule abundance, it was unclear whether it would be worthwhile to try to extract drinking water for astronauts, Dodson-Robinson said.
The new discoveries of ice at the polar regions mean that sourcing drinking water from the moon's surface could be feasible. Instead of water molecules scattered throughout the lunar regolith (the surface rock formed from moonrock broken by meteorite impacts plus micrometeorite dust), there are regions where the water molecule concentration is high enough to form ice, obviating the need for a sophisticated extraction process. Furthermore, the cold traps at the poles are temperature-stable for long periods of time, so the ice should not disappear, she said.
In addition to her knowledge on this topic, Dodson-Robson is an expert in giant planet formation; physics and chemistry of planet birth environment; and planet-hosting stars.
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