Saturday, October 23, 2010

Water on the Moon


How many remoter viewers does it take to convince scientists that there is water on the moon ... not to mention other "items of interest"? I guess we were not the convincing ... until now. How about alien bases? Lunar mining?

  Engineered collision spills new Moon secrets   PhysOrg - October 22, 2010

Scientists led by Brown University are offering the first detailed explanation of the crater formed when a NASA rocket slammed into the Moon last fall and information about the composition of the lunar soil at the poles that never has been sampled.

Moon's water is useful resource, says Nasa   BBC - October 22, 2010

There are oases of water-rich soil that could sustain astronauts on the Moon, according to Nasa. Scientists studied the full results of an experiment that smashed a rocket and a probe into a lunar crater last year. The impacts kicked up large amounts of rock and dust, revealing a suite of fascinating chemical compounds and far more water than anyone had imagined. A Nasa-led team tells Science magazine that about 155kg of water vapor and water-ice were blown out of the crater.

Moon's Silver Hints at Lunar Water Origins   National Geographic - October 22, 2010

It's not just poetic to call it a silvery moon: In addition to water, a NASA probe that crashed into a lunar crater last year churned up unexpected concentrations of silver and mercury, aka quicksilver, a new study says. The metals had been found before in moon rocks brought back by Apollo astronauts, but the elements had appeared in only trace amounts. (Also see "Water Found in Apollo Moon Rocks.")