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Image posted, POT
Illustration: NASA wants to go back to the moon and stay on it
The US space agency “NASA” revealed that there is more water on the surface of the moon than we expected in the past, and that announcement came after the agency hinted a few days ago that there was “a new and exciting discovery in the surface of the moon “.
This “apparent discovery of molecular water” will boost NASA’s hopes of establishing a base on the moon’s surface, taking advantage of the natural resources available there.
And the journal “Nature Astronomy” published the results of the study, which came in two research papers.
In contrast to earlier discoveries of water in parts that do not face the sun, scientists also discovered water molecules in areas that face the sun.
“The amount of water (discovered) is roughly equivalent to a 12-ounce bottle of water per cubic meter of lunar soil,” said Casey Honeyball, a co-author of the study and a member of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, during a video conferencing.
Jacob Blecher, a NASA member of the Department of Human Exploration, said scientists have yet to understand the nature of the water reservoirs, and this will help them determine how much future explorers of the moon will benefit from this discovery.
Although there are previous indications of water on the moon’s surface, this new discovery indicates that water is more abundant than previously thought.
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NASA has produced a detailed map of the moon’s surface and will determine the locations of water availability by choosing the correct place to lay the base.
“(The discovery) gives us more options regarding possible sources of water on the moon,” Hannah Sargent, a planetary scientist at the Open University in Milton Keynes, told the BBC.
The US Space Agency announced that it would send two astronauts, a woman and a man, to the surface of the moon in 2024 to prepare for a “next giant leap” for the human exploration mission of Mars over the next decade in 2030. .
This means developing a “more sustainable way of exploring space,” Sargent said.
“Part of that is the use of these local resources, especially water,” he told the BBC.
How did scientists find this water?
Scientists monitored the first of these new discoveries through an infrared aerial telescope known as “Sophia.” This observatory, housed in a modified Boeing 747, flies high above Earth’s atmosphere, allowing a largely clear view. Great for the solar system.
With this infrared telescope, the scientists were able to determine the “characteristic” color of the water molecules.
They believe that water is stored in lunar glass bubbles or between grains of earth on the surface, providing protection in the harsh environment.
In another study, scientists looked for areas of permanent shade, known as “cold traps,” where water can be collected and held. Scientists found these cold traps at both poles and concluded that “about 40,000 square kilometers of the moon’s surface can store water.”
What does this discovery mean?
Sargent said the discovery could “broaden the list of places we might want to build a base.”
The next few years will see quite a few missions to the moon’s polar regions, but in the long term, there are plans to build permanent dwellings on the moon’s surface.
“This may have some impact and gives us time to do some research,” said the Open University researcher.
He added: “It doesn’t give us much time because we are already working on the lunar base ideas and where we will go, but (the discovery) is promising.
“We used to go to the moon anyway, but this (discovery) gives us more options and makes it a more enjoyable place to go,” he said.
Experts say that water ice could form the basis of a future lunar economy, once you know how to mine it.
Making rocket fuel on the surface of the Moon will be much cheaper than shipping it from Earth. When future lunar explorers want to return to Earth or travel to other destinations, they can convert water into hydrogen and oxygen, which are commonly used to power spacecraft.
Consequently, lunar refueling could reduce the cost of space travel and make establishing a base on the moon less expensive.
