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| Splash! NASA finds significant water on the moon | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 14 2009, 05:07 AM (480 Views) | |
| Mike | Nov 14 2009, 05:07 AM Post #1 |
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Splash! NASA moon strikes found significant water By ALICIA CHANG AP SCIENCE WRITER LOS ANGELES -- It turns out there's lots of water on the moon - at least near the lunar south pole. The discovery announced Friday comes from an analysis of data from a spacecraft NASA intentionally crashed into the moon last month. "Indeed, yes, we found water. And we didn't find just a little bit, we found a significant amount," said Anthony Colaprete, the mission's principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center. The lunar impact kicked up at least 25 gallons of water and that's only what scientists can see, Colaprete said. Having an abundance of water on the moon would make it easier to set up a base camp for astronauts by providing drinking water and an ingredient for rocket fuel. The latest finding is further evidence that the moon is not the dry, barren place it appears and could reinvigorate scientific interest. "This is not your father's moon," said Greg Delory of the University of California, Berkeley, who was not part of the research. "Rather than a dead and unchanging world, it could in fact be a very dynamic and interesting one." Delory said the next focus should be to figure out where the water comes from and how much of it there is. NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, last month slammed into one of moon's permanently shadowed craters near the south pole to study whether ice was buried underneath. The mission actually involved two moon shots. First, an empty rocket hull slammed into the Cabeus crater. A shepherding spacecraft recorded the drama live before it also crashed into the same spot four minutes later. Though scientists were overjoyed with the plethora of data beamed back to Earth, the mission was a public relations dud. Space enthusiasts who stayed up all night to watch the spectacle did not see the promised debris plume in the initial images. NASA scientists had predicted the twin impacts would spew six miles of dust into space. Instead, images revealed just a mile-high plume. Scientists spent a month analyzing data from the spacecraft's spectrometers, instruments that can detect strong signals of water molecules in the plume. Previous spacecraft have detected the presence of hydrogen in lunar craters near the poles, which could be evidence of ice. In September, scientists reported finding tiny amounts of water mixed into the lunar soil all over the lunar surface. "We've had hints that there is water. This was almost like tasting it," said Peter Schultz, professor of geological sciences at Brown University and a co-investigator on the LCROSS mission. Mission scientists said it would take more time to tease out what else was kicked up in the moon dust. ___________________________________________________________________ Water opens up a slew of possibilities. Cal Spas can now open up a retail store up there... German brewers can ply their trade. |
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| Brewster | Nov 16 2009, 08:02 AM Post #2 |
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I wouldn't be surprised if someday they discover traces of early life on the moon as well... I wouldn't bet money on it, but it wouldn't surprise me. |
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| ngc1514 | Nov 16 2009, 09:22 PM Post #3 |
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I don't think the moon was capable of holding on to an atmosphere long enough to protect fragile molecules from being blasted apart by strong ultra-violet solar rays before they were able to actually be considered alive. To me, the far more interesting question is the source of the water. Probably of cometary origin and, if so, much more easily accessible than sending out cometary probes. We can study comets from the relative comfort of our own backyard by excavating lunar craters. |
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| Brewster | Nov 17 2009, 01:20 AM Post #4 |
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I would think any early life would be well under the surface, so UV wouldn't necessarily be a problem. Once again, not so convinced I'd be willing to bet on it. I agree that much of the water would probably be from comets, but they'd be hitting hard enough to pretty thoroughly mix with the lunar surface, which after all is also quite old - separating comet dust from lunar dust would be a challenge. |
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| ngc1514 | Nov 17 2009, 01:58 AM Post #5 |
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Too many unknowns to make speculation interesting, Brew. Not sure, however, why you'd put early life deep beneath the surface. I have trouble envisioning biogenesis taking place without the the need for free water to provide, if nothing else, easy transport of chemicals in solution. Not a student of early lunar history, but don't recall any serious mention of "free water" on the moon during any stage of the moon's development or of significant duration of its history. |
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| Brewster | Nov 17 2009, 02:29 AM Post #6 |
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Oh, you want FACTS before you speculate... Sure does ruin a good discussion... |
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| ngc1514 | Nov 17 2009, 04:24 AM Post #7 |
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If I want speculation before facts... I'll read some science fiction! I didn't comment on Mike's earlier post in this area about the Vatican hosting a conference on exo-biology. As much a fan as I am about science in general and astronomy in particular, the thought that popped into my head as I read the article was "What a waste of time, effort and money!" No offense to Mike, but who cares what the Vatican thinks about exo-biology? |
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| Mike | Nov 19 2009, 03:11 PM Post #8 |
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Who cares NG? About a billion people. More than don't care. |
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| ngc1514 | Nov 19 2009, 08:50 PM Post #9 |
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The world's population is pushing what... 6.4 billion? If a billion people care, that means that a WHOLE lot more don't care. And out of your billion, how many know or care about the Vatican hosting a conference on exo-biology? How many could even DEFINE exo-biology if asked to? Remember that statistic given during the abortion conversation where, in the United States, about 31% of abortions are performed on Catholic women? With 1.2 million abortions a year, we can clearly point to 372,000 American Catholic women who don't care what the Vatican thinks.
http://www.lisashea.com/lisabase/aboutme/birthcontrol.html Sorry Mike, but it appears that a lot of people who SHOULD care what the Vatican thinks.... don't. |
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