Water… Water Everywhere…
Comments(4)
Most of us watched with interest as the LCROSS slammed into the moon October 9, 2009. Most of us saw… not much, admittedly. But NASA has been working at high speed to analyze data from the impact, and they have discovered water.
Yes, water. On the moon.
Image: LCROSS – NASA
This opens up a whole new avenue for space exploration, because with water already present on the moon we can set up a cost-efficient moon base from which to work.
Also, remember those bacteria found on equipment left on the moon years ago? They were terrestrial, of course, but after having been exposed to the moon’s environment (or lack thereof) for several years, the bacteria were still alive. We have bacteria on Earth that do just fine living in ice… would they do just fine living in ice on the moon?
(Those are extremophiles, by the way, and you should read about them sometime. They are quite amazing.)
I’ve heard people say for years that there wasn’t anything left for us to discover on the moon. That all we did was run around and collect a few moon rocks to look at. That there was no reason to continue looking up to that dry, old rock circling the Earth for knowledge, mystery, and drama. That it’s a waste of money.
If you would like to read NASA’s press release, here is the link.
Tom recorded the LCROSS impact, and you can go here to watch it again.
Thanks for the update. Have you heard how much water is being estimated?
well, even a small amount of water onthe moon is big news and how much is bigger still. I am intrigued by the bacteria. Have they colonised the moon,or did they just stay alive ie did they multiply ?
the story of amino acids coming to earth in a meteorite suddenly begins to make sense.
It was reported that they detected “— the equivalent of about a dozen 2-gallon buckets —” at the crash site.
Ah, the bacteria. Yes, I find that extremely interesting. Seems the surfaces of some equipment were contaminated with bacteria while on the Earth, becoming tiny stowaways. After several years unprotected on the moon, the equipment was retrieved and returned to Earth for analysis, which is when the critters were discovered. Put in petri dishes, in a nutrient agar, the bacteria took up their former lives without missing a beat. They didn’t appear to have suffered any ill effects whatsoever from their adventure.
Of course, the ensuing daughter generations are still being monitored (and they may yet do something strange), but they’ve been fairly pedestrian up to this point.
Amazing.