* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Lunar water

Blobrana · L

How the Moon produces its own water
The Moon is a big sponge that absorbs electrically charged particles given out by the Sun. These particles interact with the oxygen present in some dust grains on the lunar surface, producing water. This discovery, made by the ESA-ISRO instrument SARA onboard the Indian Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter, confirms how water is likely being created on the lunar surface.
It also gives scientists an ingenious new way to take images of the Moon and any other airless body in the Solar System.

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Blobrana · L

US spacecraft crash into the Moon
Nasa scientists are assessing preliminary data after crashing two unmanned spacecraft into the Moon in a bid to detect water-ice.
The first to collide was a 2,200kg rocket stage, which slammed into Cabeus Crater at the Moon's south pole.
Another spacecraft with science instruments followed it down to analyse debris kicked up by the impact.
Scientists expected some 350 metric tonnes of debris to be kicked up to altitudes of 10km or more.

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Blobrana · L

Rocket crash could find Moon's water ice
Crashing a rocket into the Moon will create "one more dimple" on the lunar surface and could find water ice on Earth's nearest neighbour, according to a Durham University expert.

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Blobrana · L

What's the source of water molecules on the Moon? Have these originated from sources outside the Moon - the belief so far - or are these generated on the moon itself? According to Mylswamy Annadurai, Chandrayaan-1 project director, the water molecules came from the Moon surface - a major revelation made possible by the Indian mission.
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Blobrana · L

NASA Instruments Reveal Water Molecules on Lunar Surface
NASA scientists have discovered water molecules in the polar regions of the moon. Instruments aboard three separate spacecraft revealed water molecules in amounts that are greater than predicted, but still relatively small. Hydroxyl, a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom, also was found in the lunar soil. The findings were published in Thursday's edition of the journal Science.

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Blobrana · L

Brown Scientists Announce Finding of Water on the Moon
In a discovery that promises to reinvigorate studies of the moon and potentially upend thinking of how it originated, scientists at Brown University and other research institutions have found evidence of water molecules on the surface of the moon.
The molecules and hydroxyl - a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom - were discovered across the entire surface of earth's nearest celestial neighbour. While the abundances are not precisely known, as much as 1,000 water molecule parts-per-million could be in the lunar soil: harvesting one ton of the top layer of the moon's surface would yield as much as 32 ounces of water, according to scientists involved in the discovery.

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Blobrana · L

A surprising amount of water has been found to exist in the Moon's soil.
Data from three spacecraft, including India's Chandrayaan probe, shows that very fine films of H20 coat the particles that make up the lunar dirt.
The quantity is tiny but could become a useful resource for astronauts wishing to live on the Moon, scientists say.

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Widespread water may cling to moon's surface
A large portion of the moon's surface may be covered with water. That is the surprising finding of a trio of spacecraft that have turned up evidence of trace amounts of the substance in the lunar soil.

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Blobrana · L

Water discovered on moon?: "A lot of it actually"
Speculation is rife among space scientists that the quest for water on the moon may have reached a climactic end with the discovery of "a lot of water" by an instrument on board Chandrayaan-I.

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Blobrana · L

Nasa To Reveal New Scientific Findings About The Moon
NASA will hold a media briefing at 2 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Sept. 24, to discuss new science data from the moon collected during national and international space missions. NASA Television and the agency's Web site will provide live coverage of the briefing from the James E. Webb Memorial Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St. SW, in Washington.

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