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Thursday September 24, 2009
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It turns out 40 years of believing the moon's surface was dry wasn't the case. New observations from three separate spacecraft, on three different missions, have confirmed "unambiguous evidence" of water across the moon's surface, even in sunlit regions, according to Space.com.
There's not a *lot* of water; one ton of the top layer of the surface would hold about 32 ounces of water, the report said. But it's there--as both H2O molecules and hydroxyl (hydrogen and oxygen chemically bonded)--and could be harnessed as a source of drinking water or fuel for a future permanent moon base. This is in addition to the polar ice found by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The back story: forty years ago, astronauts brought back lunar rock samples. Trace amounts of water were detected at the time. But scientists assumed it was due to contamination from Earth, since the containers had leaked, according to the article. But now observations from Chandrayaan-1, NASA's Deep Impact probe, and even NASA's Cassini spacecraft made over the last 10 years have proved the presence of water conclusively. NASA is planning a 2pm EST briefing today to discuss the findings. (Image credit: NASA)
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September 24, 2009 12:55 PM
I think its cool that there is water on the moon but what does that mean for us will there ever be a chance to live there ???
September 24, 2009 4:27 PM
So how the hell did NASA miss this after all of their lunar missions? They're either totally incompetent or not disclosing the whole truth.
September 24, 2009 6:55 PM
I always thought it was funny that the Moon was supposed to be the only dry body
September 24, 2009 7:04 PM
@Oops: the article clearly explains why NASA didn't think the water they found was from the moon. Cross-contamination from earth-bound microbes and chemicals is a significant issue even for probes today, to the point where NASA fears that if we find evidence of life on Mars, for example, it may simply be a hitchhiker from Earth.
There's no need to break out the conspiracy theories, thanks - we'll stick to science here.