Study Suggests Much More Water on Moon than Previously Believed
RandomFactor writes:
According to a new study published in the Journal Nature Geoscience there may be far more water on the moon than scientists previously believed.
Study authors Lior Rubanenko, Jaahnavee Venkatraman and David Paige reference prior research from the Arecibo Observatory and NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft which
found that there are cratered areas on Mercury's poles that appear shadowed from Earth. Data from the LRO probe that was intentionally crashed into the surface of Mercury (which was released from the orbiting satellite LCROSS in 2009) revealed water and ice vapor-evidence of ice deposits several meters thick in the shadowed craters. The research also showed that the ice was able to persist in the craters because they were shaded, preventing it from being decomposed by sunlight.
The treo investigated the likelihood that similar-looking areas on the moon might similarly harbor large ice deposits. Investigating more than 20,000 craters on Mercury and 12,000 on the Moon
the researchers compared their diameter-to-depth ratios to one another. In so doing, they noted that shallowing of shaded craters on Mercury was very similar to the shallowing seen with the shaded craters on the Moon. They suggest the evidence indicates that the material that is collecting in the shallowed craters on the moon is likely ice as well.
If they are correct, this would mean that the moon has millions of tons of water ice available on the surface and some very promising destinations for future missions.
Journal Reference
Lior Rubanenko et al. Thick ice deposits in shallow simple craters on the Moon and Mercury, Nature Geoscience (2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41561-019-0405-8
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