"Significant" Water Confirmed on Lunar Surface
NASA LCROSS "Bombing the Moon" Experiment Detects Water
Nov 13, 2009
On Friday the 13th (November 13, 2009), NASA released preliminary results of their Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) bombing the moon experiment that confirms the results of three previous studies published in the journal Science last September (2009) indicating there is water on the surface of the moon.
As in these previous studies, the LCROSS experiment made use of spectrometers to identify water based on its unique near infrared spectral characteristics. The portion of the Cabeus crater at the south pole of the moon that was bombed last October 9th and analyzed is believed to have been in the shade for billions of years and therefore, a likely place to preserve the presence of water on the otherwise water-inhospitable lunar surface.
Water, but How Much?
The scientists say they could rule out contamination from the exploding Centaur rocket (see Bombing the Moon, Suite101) which unfortunately also suggests that the actual quantity of water detected was very negligible if such a determination was necessary. NASA did not provide any quantitative information about how much water is on the moon.
Anthony Colaprete, the LCROSS principal investigator of NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field in California stated, "We are ecstatic....Multiple lines of evidence show water was present in both the high angle vapor plume and the ejecta curtain created by the LCROSS Centaur impact. The concentration and distribution of water and other substances requires further analysis, but it is safe to say Cabeus holds water."
Spectral Signatures
NASA also failed to indicate if any other interesting material was either present or abundant on the surface of the moon. Many people are interested to know the quantity of the terrestrially-rare helium-3 (He-3) which can be used to generate electricity by nuclear fusion.
LCROSS Moon Bombing Mission
On June 18, 2009, LCROSS and its Centaur rocket were launched on an Atlas rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida along with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) which is still orbiting and studying the moon. After 113 days in space, LCROSS traveled 5.6 million miles and fired its Centaur rocket into the Cabeus crater on the south pole of the moon on October 9, 2009. Four minutes of spectral data were collected from which today's preliminary results were derived before LCROSS itself crashed into the moon.
Future Moon Water, Crater Analysis
As the LRO continues its own analysis of the moon, scientists will combine its data with that currently being analyzed from the LCROSS moon bombing experiment. In particular, the impact site is being scrutinized to provide information about the mechanics of crater formation. Hopefully, NASA will be lucky enough to provide some important quantitative information that was lacking from the information released on Friday the 13th.
Source
NASA Press Release, http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/main/prelim_water_results.html
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