Water on the moon is more common than we thought, studies reveal

Admin

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Now that we have evidence that water is more plentiful on the moon than we expected, what do you think this could mean for the future of lunar missions, or possible colonies?

Tell us your thoughts on what this latest discovery means for the future of humanity.

Water on the moon is more common than we thought, studies reveal : Read more

Researchers in two new studies have not only further confirmed the presence of water on the moon, but also found that the lunar surface could be harboring plentiful patches of secret ice in "cold traps," regions of permanently shadowed spots on the moon.
 
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Wolfshadw

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Moon Sharks! :cool:

On a more serious note, one would think that water-ice on the moon would have been subjected to sublimation over that last few billions years. Can someone explain why this is not the case?

-Wolf sends
 
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Wolfshadw, setting aside boogie boarding on the Moon and avoiding Moon Sharks in the water :) perhaps water-ice on the Moon is more recent in origin. We have another report today from NASA on water on the Moon, the Monday big Moon announcement. https://phys.org/news/2020-10-sofia-sunlit-surface-moon.html

["We had indications that H2O—the familiar water we know—might be present on the sunlit side of the Moon," said Paul Hertz, director of the Astrophysics Division in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Now we know it is there. This discovery challenges our understanding of the lunar surface and raises intriguing questions about resources relevant for deep space exploration."

As a comparison, the Sahara desert has 100 times the amount of water than what SOFIA detected in the lunar soil. Despite the small amounts, the discovery raises new questions about how water is created and how it persists on the harsh, airless lunar surface.]