Water Hops All Around the Moon Over the Course of a Lunar Day

[Judi Lynn]

By Meghan Bartels 10 hours ago



An image captured by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter shows areas scientists suspect to be covered with frost.(Image: © NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio)


Water molecules are hopping around the moon as the lunar surface warms and cools throughout the day, new research suggests.

That research is based on observations gathered by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been studying our planet's close companion since 2009. A recent upgrade to an instrument onboard the orbiter called Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) has allowed scientists to keep a closer eye on where the moon's surface shows signs of water.

"This is an important new result about lunar water, a hot topic as our nation's space program returns to a focus on lunar exploration," Kurt Retherford, a co-author on the new research and the principal investigator of the LAMP instrument at Southwest Research Institute in Texas, said in a NASA statement.

Water on other planetary bodies could be a valuable resource not just for human explorers to drink, but also to serve as fuel for future robotic exploration, since water can be split to form rocket fuel, saving missions from having to carry that fuel from Earth.

More:
https://www.space.com/water-on-the-moon-is-moving.html

[littlemissmartypants]

1. Very cool. ♡

[Ferrets are Cool]

2. Your posts are treasures.

Thank you for your contributions.