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As a result of the studies carried out by NASA on the Moon, it became known that the most definitive evidence that there was water on the Moon.
The world of science just got locked in on NASA news. According to the news in Popular Science, last week, NASA announced that it would announce a major discovery made on the Moon today. The announcement was thought to be related to observations made with the SOFIA observation aircraft. According to the current announcement, scientists have come to the most compelling findings that there is water on the Moon. In addition, it is possible to access these waters. The exploration could have a variety of consequences for future exploration missions on the Moon and deep space.
NASA Administrator Bridenstine announced the news the whole world was waiting for on Twitter. Bridenstine shared the following statements:
“Using the @SOFIATelescope, we have detected water on the sunlit side of the Moon for the first time. We are still not sure we can use it as a resource, but what we learned about water on the Moon is key to our exploration plans. of Artemis “.
ICE SIGNS HAPPENED
The Moon was thought to have a dry surface, as it lacked an important atmosphere to protect it from the sun’s rays. In the 1990s, orbiting planetary spacecraft found signs of ice in large, inaccessible craters around the Moon’s poles.
MEETING WITH THE HELP OF SOFIA
Then, in 2019, spectrographs on India’s Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft detected signatures consistent with water in light reflected from the lunar surface. Even in this case, due to technical limitations, it was not known whether it was actually H2O (water) or hydroxyl molecules in minerals (consisting of an oxygen atom and a hydrogen atom).
Now, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Casey Honniball and his colleagues have clearly identified a chemical signature of H2O by measuring the wavelengths of sunlight reflected off the Moon’s surface. These data were collected using the Stratosphere Infrared Astronomical Observatory (SOFIA), a modified Boeing 747 aircraft carrying a 2.7-meter reflective telescope.
NEAR THE SOUTH POLE
Discovered at high latitudes near the south pole of the Moon, these waters consist of 100 to 400 parts of H2O molecules per million. Maheş Anand, Professor of Planetary Science and Exploration at the Open University of England, “This is too much” He says.
Anand, “As much as those lost in the lava that flows from the ocean ridges of the Earth. These can be collected and converted into liquid water at the right temperature and pressure. “ I speak.
“WATER IS A VERY EXPENSIVE MATERIAL IN SPACE”
The presence of water can have several consequences for future space missions to the Moon. These waters can be used for processing and drinking; It can be divided into hydrogen and oxygen and used as rocket fuel, or this oxygen can be used for respiration. “Water is a very expensive raw material in space” says Anand.
Most of the icy waters are believed to be located in steep-walled dark craters where temperatures rarely exceed -230 ° C. But collecting water from these places would be a dangerous undertaking.
Ian Crawford, professor of planetary science and astrobiology at the University of London, says: “If it turns out that there is too much water in those areas that are not permanently shaded, then it can be a very large area and it may be possible to access it; because it is in the sunlight. “
But some questions still await an answer. One of them is the state of the water. According to one possibility, the Moon formed when meteorites hit the Moon’s surface could remain dissolved in its ‘windows’. Alternatively, small ice crystals could be scattered among the grains of earth on the Moon. Anand says that the second possibility is much easier to find.
Another question is the depth of this newly approved water source. If the cap is limited to a few microns or millimeters, it will be of low usability. But Professor Crawford says he would still be wondering how the water got there.
The only way to find the answer is to go to the Moon and start digging. Also, this may not happen in a distant time. NASA’s Artemis space mission aims to send a male and female astronaut to the Moon in 2024. In addition, soil samples from depths of up to one meter are planned to be taken with a robotic drilling machine.
So where should you dig? The best places are the areas that are in permanent shade because the water is more protected from the sun’s rays. Another article published in the journal Nature Astronomy suggests that there may be many more accessible areas than previously thought.
Source: Popular Science
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