Scientists have gathered some of the most compelling evidence for the existence of water on the moon, which may be relatively accessible.
The discovery has implications for future missions to the moon and deeper space exploration.
Without any significant atmosphere isolating it from sunlight, it was assumed that the moon's surface was dry, until the 1990s, when orbiting spacecraft found indications of ice in large, inaccessible craters near the moon's poles.
Then, in 2009, signs in line with water were recorded in light, reflecting from the lunar surface. Even so, the technical limitations meant that it was impossible to know if it was really water (H2O) or a hydrocyl molecule (consisting of an oxygen atom and a hydrogen atom).
Meanwhile, now Casey Honniball at NASA's ASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, USA, and colleagues have discovered a chemical signature that is undoubtedly H2O, measuring the wavelengths of sunlight reflected from the surface of the moon. Data were collected from The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (Sofia).
The water was discovered at high latitudes towards the south pole of the moon and in considerable quantities.
The existence of water has implications for future lunar missions because it can be treated and used for drinking, can be split into hydrogen and oxygen to be used as a propellant rocket, and oxygen can be used for respiration.
"Water is a very expensive product in space," said Mahesh Anand, a professor of planetary science and exploration.
However, harvesting it from dark, steep-walled craters where temperatures rarely rise above -230C, which is supposed to be the bulk of frozen water, would be a risky undertaking.
"Nëse rezulton se ka shumë ujë në zonat që nuk janë në hije të përhershme, atëherë kjo është potencialisht një zonë shumë e madhe dhe është e arritshme sepse është në dritën e diellit", tha Ian Crawford, profesor i shkencës planetare dhe astrobiologjisë në Birkbeck, Universiteti i Londrës.
Sidoqoftë, disa pyetje mbeten ende.
Njëra është forma në të cilën ekziston uji. Një mundësi është që ai tretet brenda "xhamit" hënor, të krijuar kur meteoritët godasin sipërfaqen e hënës. Përndryshe, kristalet e imëta të akullit mund të shpërndahen midis kokrrave të tokës hënore.
“Kjo e fundit do të ishte shumë më e lehtë për t’u nxjerrë”, tha Anand.
Një tjetër është se sa thellë shtrihet ky burim uji i sapo konfirmuar.
"If it were limited to a few microns or millimeters above, then its practical significance would be minimal, although it would still raise interesting scientific questions about how it got there," he said. Crawford.
NASA's Artemis mission plans to send a man and woman astronaut to the moon before 2024.
British scientists are also conducting a robotic drill to take lunar soil samples from depths up to one meter as part of a Russian mission planned for 2025.
Source: The Guardian
