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The scientists’ reaction was the same as you probably did when they came to this conclusion. That may not be possible; after all, there is no oxygen on the moon, one of the two essential elements for oxidation and the other is water.
But the evidence was there.
India’s lunar probe, Chandrayaan-1, visited the moon in 2008 and collected data that led to many discoveries over the years, including the discovery of water molecules on its surface. The probe also included an instrument built by NASA that could analyze the mineral composition of the moon.
When researchers from NASA and the Aerospace Institute for Geophysics and Planetology recently analyzed the data, they were surprised to find signs of hematite, a form of iron oxide known as forest. There are many iron-rich rocks on the moon, but rust only occurs when iron is exposed to oxygen and water.
Not only is there wind on the moon, but it is also filled with hydrogen that flows from the sun, driven by the solar wind. Rust occurs when oxygen removes electrons from iron; Hydrogen does the opposite by combining electrons, which means that it is more difficult to oxidize on a hydrogen full moon.
After months of research, Lee and NASA scientists believe they have figured it out, and the answer lies on our own planet.
This is your beginning
One big clue was that the moon was more concentrated on the side facing the earth, suggesting that it was somehow connected to our planet.
The earth is stretched out in a magnetic field and the solar wind pulls this bubble in a stressful direction to form a long magnetic tail. The moon enters this tail three days before its completion and takes six days to cross the tail and exit the other side.
And, Lee speculates, oxygen from Earth travels to land on the moon in this magnetic tail, where it interacts with the moon’s water molecules to create rust.
The magnetic tail also blocks nearly all solar winds across the moon, meaning the moon is temporarily shielded from a hydrogen blast, opening a window to rust.
“This discovery will reshape our knowledge of the lunar polar regions,” he added. “Earth may have played an important role in the development of the moon’s surface.”
This theory can also explain why rust has been found in other airless bodies, such as asteroids. “It may be that the iron in these bodies is being allowed to rust under the influence of a small drop of water and dust particles,” Freeman said.
But some questions remain unanswered; for example, although most of the rust was found near the moon, some small traces were also found on its far side, where oxygen from Earth should not have reached. It is not yet clear exactly how the water on the moon interacts with the rock.
To collect more data on these unsolved mysteries, NASA is developing a new version of the tool that collected all of this existing data on lunar mineralization. One of these features will be able to map the water ice at the moon’s poles and may also reveal new details about hematite, NASA said in a statement.
