Water in moon ejecta plume (Lcross report 22 Oct.)

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SUMMARY

The Lcross mission successfully detected water in the ejecta plume from a crash into a permanently shadowed crater at the Moon's south pole, with estimates indicating approximately 5% water content in the soil. This discovery, reported in Science magazine on October 22, 2010, suggests that one gallon of water could be extracted from a wheelbarrow load of lunar soil. The extreme cold of the crater supports the presence of ice grains. Additionally, new findings from NASA's LCROSS and LRO missions revealed significant mercury concentrations, aligning closely with predictions made by Dr. George W. Reed in 1999.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of lunar geology and the significance of permanently shadowed craters
  • Familiarity with NASA's LCROSS and LRO missions
  • Knowledge of water detection methods in extraterrestrial environments
  • Awareness of historical predictions in planetary science, particularly regarding mercury
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  • Research the methodologies used in NASA's LCROSS mission for detecting water on the Moon
  • Explore the implications of water presence in lunar soil for future lunar exploration
  • Investigate the significance of mercury findings in the context of lunar geology
  • Read Dr. George W. Reed's 1999 paper on mercury predictions in lunar soil
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Astronomers, planetary scientists, and space exploration enthusiasts interested in lunar research and the implications of water and mercury discoveries on the Moon.

marcus
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They actually did find some small amount of water in the Lcross ejecta plume.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/330/6003/463

Science magazine 22 October. You remember they crashed junk into an everdark crater at the moon's south pole and studied the resulting cloud of debris.

The water is estimated to be roughly 5% more or less, ice grains mixed into the soil, so you might recover one gallon from a wheelbarrowload. It doesn't seem like a lot but it's probably significant.

The sunless southpole crater is very very cold, so it makes sense.

Here's the NYT article about it:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/22/science/space/22moon.html
 
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I also found this quite interesting:

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/21oct_lcross2/"

Oct. 21, 2010: Nearly a year after announcing the discovery of water molecules on the moon, scientists have revealed new data uncovered by NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO—and it's more than just water.
 
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At our local astronomy club's September meeting, an LRO team member briefed us about all of this stuff. In particular the mercury discovery was very interesting. Interesting because it was predicted by Dr. George W. Reed back in 1999 in a paper titled, http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/11019305/840846986/name/1999M+PS___34__809R.pdf" An interesting read. The concentrations of mercury found were very close to the estimates Dr. Reed predicted in the paper.

An excellent SWAG, don't you think?
 
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