Water on the Moon

In 1961 Watson, Murray and Brown [354] published a paper on the possible presence of ice on the Moon in craters that permanently are shadowed. Arnold, 1979 [10] mentioned four possible sources of lunar ice  

The two destructive mechanisms for lunar water ice were already mentioned briefly  

With the Arecibo radar mapping also the search for ice on the lunar poles was performed (Stacy, Campbell and Ford, 1997 [323]). 

Optical and near-IR signatures of water ice on the Moon s surface were investigated by McConnochie, 2002 [223]. At a wavelength of 1.5 pm they found signatures of water in some polar regions, however these signatures did not show up at 2 pm. 

Regions on the lunar surface, that are permanently shaded are only found on the South pole (total area about 15000 km ). For detection the lunar surface composition, a radio transmitter was used. Rocky surfaces scatter radio waves randomly, while icy surfaces reflect radio waves coherently like a bicycle reflector. 

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Such a measurement can tell us about the chemical evolution of oxygen, such as whether the isotopes differentiated via a thermal cycle in which lighter leO fractionates from the heavier lsO, much as Vostok ice-core oxygen ratios reveal the Earth s prehistoric climate. From this fixed point of the Sun s oxygen ratios, we can then trace the history of water in other planetary bodies since their birth in the solar nebulae through the subsequent cometary bombardment [13]. In NASA s search for water on the Moon, important for the establishment of a future Moon base, such isotopic ratios will determine whether the water is a vast mother lode or just a recent cometary impact residue. 

Observations made with NASA s Moon Mineralogy Mapper (see Fig. 4.26) aboard an Indian satellite mission showed evidence for water on the Moon which... 

The elements occur in widely varying quantities on earth. The 10 most abundant elements make up 98% of the mass of the crust of the earth. Many elements occur only in traces, and a few are synthetic. Fortunately for humanity, the elements are not distributed uniformly throughout the earth. The distinct properties of the different elements cause them to be concentrated more or less, making them more available as raw materials. For example, sodium and chlorine form salt, which is concentrated in beds by being dissolved in bodies of water which later dry up. Other natural processes are responsible for the distribution of the elements which now exist on earth. It is interesting to note that the different conditions on the moon—for example, the lack of water and air on the surface—might well cause a different sort of distribution of the elements on the earth s satellite. 

J In outer space, frozen water, or ice, has been found on the moon, on planets— particularly Mercury, Mars, Neptune, and Pluto—and in comets and clouds between stars in our galaxy. Recent explorations of Mars indicate that there may be liquid water underground on Mars.This means there could be microorganisms living there ... 

On the moon the water drainage would be by far less effective. In contrast to the dimensional analysis presented in Reference (9) we are well advised to add g to the relevance list ... 

Recent data from the near IR mapping spectrometer (NIMS) of the Galileo spacecraft has also identified areas on the moons in which the water bands axe shifted and suppressed, consistent with large surface areas... 

When the Sulphur is being steeped with too much water, it then again turns into a yellow oil (Aurum potabile). It resolves and floats on the Mercurio, and for this reason a union cannot occur. The Sun should not float on the Moon We should follow the example of the potter, who slightly moistens the clay, just enough so it becomes cohesive. 

In the 195O s, President Eisenhower was convinced that drinking water was the key to world peace in many parts of the world. Eisenhower s successor as President was John Kennedy. In a famous speech. President Kennedy expressed his intention to land a man on the moon and make the deserts bloom. The second part of this quote has been obscured by the first part. Nonetheless, Kennedy did follow through by creating the Office of Saline Water, which provided financial support for much of the early research on membranes. 

FIGURE 6.3 The impacting record for the Earth and Moon. The grey field for the Earth is calculated from the observed record on the Moon and expressed as impact energy (left) and depth of water evaporated (right). Superimposed upon the cratering record is the data from impact melts in lunar meteorites showing the time of the inner solar system late heavy bombardment (after Sleep et al. (1989) and Cohen et al. (2000)). 

Fig. 2. The total apparent tidal energy-crossing section A-B as calculated from h and v measured at J during calm weather. Curve L is the energy used in work done on the moon by the water within section A-B.

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