It is now official that there is water on the moon. Scientists have now confirmed that there is water on the moon and not only a little bit but a significant amount. When the LCROSS probe impacted that moon at the southern pole in order to find any signs of water, this discovery was made."Indeed, yes, we found water. And we didn't find just a little bit, we found a
significant amount," said Anthony Colaprete.
When LCROSS probe impacted the moon looking for signs of water, it collected a sample so the scientists could test it for any signs of ice water. When tested the sample contained ice water. This was confirmed by two of scientific instruments. Based on the measurements, there is about 100 kilograms of water on that particular spot the moon. This is about a dozen 2-gallon buckets. Even though this might not be very much water, it was a good amount in a 20-meter crater. Scientists also predict that there might be more water on the moon in different spots. For example: The permanently shadowed craters at the southern pole of the moon. These craters might contain frozen water. The excitement doesn't stop here. Water was also detected by a NASA-built instrument on board India's Chandrayaan-1 probe and other spacecraft. Furthermore, scientists think there there might be other compounds where the LCROSS probe impacted the moon, besides water. Scientists aren't really sure of what these compounds are yet.
Even though water was found on the moon, there many more questions to be answered about this topic. For example: What state is the water in? The water might be filled with dirt molecules from the moon. Another questions is: How did the water get there and how long has it been on the moon? Scientists predict that the water has been on the moon for billions of years. Also, the scientists don't know how the water got there, they have a couple of different hypothesis about the subject. Finding water on the moon changed the scientists view of the moon completely. They are saying that the moon isn't just a dead planetary body anymore.
Scientists are planning to send astronauts to the moon again in 2020 for extended missions on the lunar surface. They say that the water discovered could be water that is drinkable and used for other causes. Even though they now know there is water on the moon, this wasn't discovered until a week after the impact made by LCROSS probe. NASA plans to launch LCROSS and its sister, LRO, in June.
Picture from: http://moonpark.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/moon32.jpg
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