In article , Mitchell Holman
says...

Miloch wrote in
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https://www.mirror.co.uk/science/nas...er-pockets-229
07703

Water hidden in tiny patches on the moon could provide key access to
drinking water for astronauts on future lunar missions, according to
NASA

Hidden pockets of water on the moon could be much more common than
scientists previously thought, and the discovery could have potential
implications for future lunar missions.

Researchers suggest that in some cases tiny patches of ice might exist
in permanent shadows no bigger than a penny.

They explored phenomena on the moon called cold traps, which are
shadowy regions of the surface that exist in a state of eternal
darkness.

It is thought that many have gone without a single ray of sunlight for
potentially billions of years.

Now scientists say there may be a lot more of these nooks and crannies
than previous data suggests.

Paul Hayne, assistant professor in the laboratory of atmospheric and
space physics at University of Colorado Boulder, said: "If you can
imagine standing on the surface of the moon near one of its poles, you
would see shadows all over the place. Many of those tiny shadows could
be full of ice."

Drawing on detailed data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, the
researchers estimate the moon could harbour roughly 15,000 square
miles of permanent shadows in various shapes and sizes.

According to scientists, these might be reservoirs capable of
preserving water via ice.

Prof Hayne added: "If we're right, water is going to be more
accessible for drinking water, for rocket fuel, everything that Nasa
needs water for."

Previous research has reported signs of hydration on the lunar
surface, particularly around the south pole.

However, these detections are based on a spectral signature, at three
micrometres, that cannot discriminate between water and hydroxyl
(oxygen bonded to hydrogen) bound in minerals.

In one of two papers published in Nature Astronomy, Casey Honniball,
from the University of Hawaii, and colleagues analysed data from the
Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) airborne
telescope that observed the moon at six micrometres.

At this wavelength, they were able to detect a spectral signature of
water that is not shared with other hydroxyl compounds.

They found water is present at high southern latitudes.

The authors suggest the detected water is probably stored in glass or
between grains on the lunar surface that protect it from the harsh
environment.

In the other study, Prof Hayne assessed a whole range of possible
sizes for cold traps, down to one centimetre in diameter.

The team found that small-scale micro cold traps - some just 1cm wide
- are hundreds to thousands of times more numerous than larger cold
traps, and they can be found at both poles.

The authors suggest that approximately 40,000 square km of the lunar
surface has the capacity to trap water.

Researchers say the findings indicate water is efficiently produced or
delivered on the moon by various processes, and is likely to be stored
in the moon's cold traps at both polar region.

The team pulled data from real-life observations of the moon, then
used mathematical tools to recreate what its surface might look like
at a very small scale. They say it is a bit like a golf ball.

However the researchers caution that they cannot prove these shadows
actually hold pockets of ice, and the only way to do that would be to
go there in person or with rovers and dig.

But they say the results are promising, and future missions could shed
even more light on the moon's water resources.

Prof Hayne said: "Astronauts may not need to go into these deep, dark
shadows. They could walk around and find one that's a metre wide and
that might be just as likely to harbour ice."


Far from being a rare commodity, water seems
to be everywhere in the solar system and even the
while universe. it is deep within the earth, it
is on the moon and Mars, it is in the astroids
and comets, all over the Jovian and Saturnian
moons, and the Oort cloud.

As one astronomer recently put it, "water
wasn't brought to Earth, it was always here".


'Jack and June went up to the moon
to fetch a bottle of water
When Jack fell down and broke his crown
June came tumbling after

[18th Century]



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