Scientists have discovered something extraordinary and new about our Moon. According to a new study, there are minute traces of water in the Moon’s dirty.
Three different space probes found the chemical signature of water all over the moon’s surface, surprising the scientists who at first doubted the unexpected measurement until it was confirmed independently and repeatedly.
It’s not enough moisture to foster homegrown life on the moon. But if processed in mass quantities, it might provide resources โ drinking water and rocket fuel โ for future moon-dwellers, scientists say. The water comes and goes during the lunar day.
It’s not a lot of water. If you took a two-liter soda bottle of lunar dirt, there would probably be a medicine dropperful of water in it, said University of Maryland astronomer Jessica Sunshine, one of the scientists who discovered the water. Another way to think of it is if you want a drink of water, it would take a baseball diamond’s worth of dirt, said team leader Carle Pieters of Brown University.
“It’s sort of just sticking on the surface,” Sunshine said. “We always think of the moon as dead and this is sort of a dynamic process that’s going on.”
The discovery, with three studies bring published in the journal Science on Thursday and a NASA briefing, could refocus interest in the moon. The appeal of the moon waned after astronauts visited 40 years ago and called it “magnificent desolation.”
The announcement comes two weeks before a NASA probe purposely smashes near the moon’s south pole to see if it can kick up buried ice. Over the last decade, astronomers have found some signs of underground ice on the moon’s poles. But this latest discovery is quite different. It finds unexpected and pervasive water clinging to the surface of soil, not absorbed into it.
“It is drier than any desert we have here,” Sunshine said.
The water was spotted by spacecraft that either circled the moon or flew by. All three ships used the same type of instrument that looked at the absorption of a specific wavelength of light that is the chemical signature of only two molecules: water and hydroxyl. Hydroxyl is one atom of hydrogen with one atom of oxygen, instead of two hydrogen atoms in water.
Because of the timing during the daylight when some of that wavelength disappears and some doesn’t, it shows that both hydroxyl and water are present, Sunshine said.
This light wavelength was first discovered by an instrument on the Indian lunar satellite Chandrayaan-1, which stopped operating last month. Scientists initially figured something was wrong with the instrument because everyone knew the moon did not have a drop of water on the surface, Pieters said.
“We argued literally for months amongst ourselves to find out where the problem was,” Pieters said. Sunshine, who was on the team, had a similar instrument on NASA’s Deep Impact probe, headed for a comet but swinging by the moon in June. So Deep Impact looked for the water-hydroxyl signature โ and found it.
Scientists also looked back at the records of NASA’s Cassini probe, which is circling Saturn. It has the same type instrument and whizzed by the moon ten years ago. Sure enough, it had found the same thing.
The chance that three different instruments malfunctioned in the same way on three different spaceships is almost zilch, so this confirms that it’s water and hydroxyl, Pieters said.
“There’s just no question that it’s there,” Pieters said. “It’s unequivocal.”
Scientists testing lunar samples returned to Earth by astronauts did find traces of water, but they had figured it was contamination from moisture in Earth air, Pieters said.
Three scientists who were not part of the team of discoverers said the conclusion makes sense, with Arizona State University’s Ron Greeley using the same word as Pieters: unequivocal.
Lunar and Planetary Institute senior scientist Paul Spudis called it exciting and said it raises the logical question: Where did that water come from?
Pieters figures there are three possibilities: It came from comets or asteroids that crashed into the moon, those crashes freed up trapped water from below the surface, or the solar wind carries hydrogen atoms that binds with oxygen in the dirt. That final possibility is the one that Sunshine and Pieters both prefer.
If it is the solar wind, that also means that other places without atmosphere in our solar system, such as Mercury or asteroids, can also have bits of water, Sunshine said.
Michael Mennenga says
I don’t think any of us should let this article pass by. Some of the things they are talking about here, challenge a lot of what we have believed about the nature of the universe.
This is big stuff, and could mean that life really is abundant and tucked in places we have yet to look.
Michel Daw says
Too right, Michael. And couple that with an expansion of what the requirements for life actually ARE (in another article on this great site!) there is hope that somehow, someday…
Michael Mennenga says
I’m sure that alien life already exists.
It’s the only way I can explain, Will Ferell, Keanu Reeves, Adam Sandler, Carrot Top…………
Arkle says
…Michelle Bachman, Megan Fox, Tom Cruise…
Shane says
… Brian Brown, Tim Adamec, Mike Mennenga…
C’mon, you knew that was coming. ๐
D. C. says
Fantastic.
Robin says
That’s pretty cool. I’m surprised that Pieters left out the possibility that the moon’s water content is the result of the theoretical formation of the moon from an impact between a small planetoid and the Earth. Unless that’s already been disproven since they made whatever Science / Discovery / NatGeo program I saw it on.
Bill from Albuquerque says
At least it raises the chances of returning to the Moon as more than just talk and with what the rovers are still finding after nearly 6 years on Mars and the preliminary data from the Phoenix Lander it might actually more true now than ever that we are not alone and if they find anything on Europa and Io with the planned probes and whatever Cassini finds when it gets closer to Enceladus later this year it could be as big as a little 150 year old theory called evolution.
reppoHssarg says
Blowin’ in the (solar) wind. Especially when the moon enters earth’s shadow and is thus passing thru the tail of whatever atmosphere is blown off of earth by it. Even the smallest trace of water that makes the journey will accumulate on the moon as it has some gravity to hold on to it. The proof of this is to examine the L5 lagrange points and see if any debri + water exists there.
Bill from Albuquerque says
Might be a good idea to check all LaGrange points for debris of any kind since NASA wants to park satellites there in the future for further deep space exploration without the interference of Earth’s atmosphere and gravity since these are points where the pull of gravity is practically neutral and it will stay put with minimal effort. They are also planning to do this at the Sun so if it hiccups we know about it ahead of time in order to move or evacuate the Space Station and to calculate the effects or other orbiting satellites both commercial and military.
Michael Mennenga says
One of the biggest things that has been dropped from all NASA talks is setting “Any” equipment in L1 (Station-keeping position between here and the moon).
I mean, how hard would it have been to push Mir or Even Skylab up to L1 just to see the true effects of having something parked out there?
I still think there is a lot of study to be done between here and the Moon before we set our sights on Mars. Just IMO.