UP Ibalon Bicol: Water found in the moon

Water found in the moon

11/14/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

Is there water in the moon? Now it can be said, there is. It took painstaking work for scientists to answer the age-old question. The NASA spacecraft which crashed on the moon surface last month disclosed the presence of water---- at least 25 gallons disturbed by the aircraft’s impact in the shadowy southern polar fringes of the heavenly body closest to earth. Anthony Colaprete, the mission's principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center was elated to report the find.

“The mission actually involved two moon shots. First, an empty rocket hull slammed into the Cabeus crater. A shepherding spacecraft recorded the drama live before it also crashed into the same spot four minutes later.

Though scientists were overjoyed with the plethora of data beamed back to Earth, the mission was a public relations dud. Space enthusiasts who stayed up all night to watch the spectacle did not see the promised debris plume in the initial images… Scientists spent a month analyzing data from the spacecraft's spectrometers, instruments that can detect strong signals of water molecules in the plume.”----AP (11/13/09 Chang, A.)

The implications of finding significant water are great. The moon is not barren and dry. Not only will this information change the way scientists study the earth’s neighbor, it gives greater possibility of creating a lunar space station needed for future space explorations.

With the presence of water, the chance of finding living organisms is greater--- a step towards understanding the nature of the solar system. It is interesting to know where the lunar water comes from and quantify how much there is. (Photo Credit: AFP/ NASA) =0=

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Labels: discovery, moon, NASA, planet, science, space, space mission, Totie Mesia, water

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Water found in the moon

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