New research suggests the interior of the Moon may contain an abundance of water

[Shawn Knight]

The interior of the Moon may be hiding a surprising secret, new research suggests (sorry, conspiracy theorists – it’s not an underground lunar base).

Scientists for years thought our nearby satellite was a dry and barren place. Opinions changed in the 1960s although it wasn’t until 2008 that scientists confirmed their newfound suspicion with the discovery of small amounts of water trapped within beads of glass found in lunar samples collected during the Apollo 15 and Apollo 17 missions in the early ‘70s.

Researchers at Brown University recently analyzed satellite data from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper instrument aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 probe. As Space.com highlights, the instrument measures reflected sunlight at visible and near-infrared wavelengths.

Geologist Ralph Milliken, lead author of the new study, notes that different minerals and compounds absorb and reflect light in different ways. By isolating the reflected sunlight from the thermal energy emitted by the Moon’s surface, they were able to spot regions where H2O and OH absorb light.

The water they observed was in pyroclastic deposits on the surface of the Moon. Since these types of deposits are the result of volcanic eruptions, it means they likely originated deep within the interior of the Moon. Milliken notes that their findings suggest most of the mantle of the Moon may be “wet.”

How the water got there to begin with, however, remains a mystery. Earlier theories suggested most of the water on the Moon came from asteroids and comets carrying liquid.

If accurate, the findings could bode well for future colonization efforts as bringing water from Earth would be both heavy and expensive.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/70264-new-research-suggests-interior-moon-may-contain-abundance.html

 

[Uncle Al]

It would certainly be interesting to find out and would make the plausibility of a future moon base much greater. Now if they could only find a "hidden atmosphere" .....

 

[Igrecman]

25 years ago Celine Dion knew there was water on the moon

"Do I gotta get water from the moon
What do I gotta do
To make you love me
I've done everything that I can do
But get water from the moon"

 

[namesrejected]

"The interior of the Moon may be hiding a surprising secret, new research suggests (sorry, conspiracy theorists – it’s not an underground lunar base)."

All this does is verify that a base exist. Clearly those are water reserves for the base.

 

[captaincranky]

...[ ]...The interior of the Moon may be hiding a surprising secret, new research suggests (sorry, conspiracy theorists, it's not an underground lunar base).

Surely you're aware the Transformers and Decepticons are both able to turn themselves into facsimiles of moon rocks at will, right?

Scientists for years thought our nearby satellite was a dry and barren place. Opinions changed in the 1960s although it wasn't until 2008 that scientists confirmed their newfound suspicion with the discovery of small amounts of water trapped within beads of glass found in lunar samples collected during the Apollo 15 and Apollo 17 missions in the early;70s.

So all we would have to do is melt the glass beads, and trap the steam as it escapes? Oh wait, that would require oxygen to start the furnaces... Never mind, I have a better idea, send our guys up there with a giant magnifying glass, and use sunlight to melt the glass. (y) And if that doesn't work, take a hammer ans smash all the little beads by hand, against a moon rock. Which might be, (as I pointed out earlier), if you're lucky, a Transformer, and if you're not, a Decepticon..

The water they observed was in pyroclastic deposits on the surface of the Moon. Since these types of deposits are the result of volcanic eruptions, it means they likely originated deep within the interior of the Moon. Milliken notes that their findings suggest most of the mantle of the Moon may be wet

Or, most of these findings could be wishful thinking for the sake of getting further research grants and publicity..

How the water got there to begin with, however, remains a mystery. Earlier theories suggested most of the water on the Moon came from asteroids and comets carrying liquid.

How about if we combine the two theories, to make one really dumb one? The comets and asteroids hitting to moon were of the boring variety, thus they tunneled deep under the moon's surface, and left their water in giant aquifers, just like in the movie, "Dune"

If accurate, the findings could bode well for future colonization efforts as bringing water from Earth would be both heavy and expensive

How true.
But for this theory "to hold water" so to speak, one would have to assume that the average moon rock is lighter than water. Otherwise, when the planet was formed, water would have floated to the surface, the same as it did on earth. Earth's aquifers are replenished from above. But, the earth's core, is virtually solid iron, and the reason for that is quite simple, it's heavier by volume, than just about any other common element in existence. Granted it's not heavier than lead (Pb), or they would use it for fishing sinkers.

So, unless you believe the moon was trapped by the earth, and created in an entirely different celestial explosion (nova), one would l"assume" its interior construct, would be at least similar to the earth's.

BTW, iron is the last element. created by the fusion process. It can't sustain atomic fusion, because it requires more energy to fuse it, than is released by fusing it.

 

[ET3D]

one would have to assume that the average moon rock is lighter than water.

Apparently there's more water trapped in rocks on Earth than there is in Earth's oceans (link). It's certainly not out of the question (and even reasonable) for the moon to be similar. So there's no need for silly assumptions.

 

[Nobina]

Hey, how about we stop ****ing our planet up and then we won't have to move to another similar but much worse planet.

 

[captaincranky]

Apparently there's more water trapped in rocks on Earth than there is in Earth's oceans (link). It's certainly not out of the question (and even reasonable) for the moon to be similar. So there's no need for silly assumptions.

So I'm making "silly assumptions", am I?

"Scientists" like to imagine they can solve any problem, when in fact, they're more likely suffering from paranoid delusions of grandeur. Quite a bit of their "imaginings" could be put to better use writing comic books.

I often enjoy reading how Elon Musk is going "create an atmosphere on Mars", Or we're going to "mine water" on our next trip to the moon. The sun has plenty of helium, and we have a shortage of it here on earth. Maybe we should just pop on up to the sun's surface and borrow some.

Whether something exists, and whether our species can harvest it for our own use, are two wildly different circumstances.

I turn on the TV, and am confronted with fire, floods, destruction. Shouldn't all these fools that think they can play "god", and create a weather system on another practically barren planet, put their "expertise", and "powerful vision" to work right here at home in an effort to avoid tragedy? You'd think these "visionaries", would take "one small step for man", and learn how to turn a cyclone into a gentle spring rain, thus avoiding the death, destruction, and havoc such powerful storms unleash.

So then, how do you go about "mining water"? With all the damage droughts cause on earth, you'd think we'd just drill a few holes in the earth's crust, and start "fracking" it out of bedrock, the same as we do with natural gas. You know, yank all these people out of those nice air conditioned labs and think tanks, put a jackhammer in their hands, and let them mine some water for us. Oh, and send them into a nice "comfortable" arid desert area on earth to do it, not one like the moon or Mars which has at least a couple hundred degrees of temperature fluctuations between day and night. You know, let them get in a little "practice" before we shoot them into space.

So, since there's so much water trapped in the earth's crust, I'm sure you won't mind leaving your canteen home on your next camping trip, and if you get thirsty, just suck on a few rocks. Whaddya say, does that sound like a plan?

 

[ET3D]

So I'm making "silly assumptions", am I?

And then trying to divert attention from your lack of knowledge and understanding by attacking scientists. But that's your style and you're loved for it, so go ahead, it's entertaining.

 

[namesrejected]

Lets all stop arguing and work together. We don't have much time, remember in the article they clearly found a base on the moon that belongs to " The BORG ".

 

[captaincranky]

Lets all stop arguing and work together. We don't have much time, remember in the article they clearly found a base on the moon that belongs to " The BORG ".

You know Steve Jobs didn't really die, right? The BORG assimilated him into their collective. (Which pretty much explains the moon base).

 

[Tanstar]

Surely you're aware the Transformers and Decepticons are both able to turn themselves into facsimiles of moon rocks at will, right?

One big problem with all this. Transformers is the entire race, made up of Decepticons and Autobots. You're going to get people killed if they don't know the difference! Other than that, you make a lot of sense.

 

[namesrejected]

You know Steve Jobs didn't really die, right? The BORG assimilated him into their collective. (Which pretty much explains the moon base).

I would have thought the BORG collective would have been smarter than that!

 

[captaincranky]

I would have thought the BORG collective would have been smarter than that!

I know, right? They most likely thought he was just a sick, old guy. The fact he had 99+% chimp DNA, was probably a nasty shock to their system.

OTOH, you'd want to be able to think like an ape, before you invade a planet containing 7+ billion of them!