The Moon Is A Not-So-Harsh Mistress

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story.moon.nasa.govWater on the moon… Just wow!

According to NASA, this discovery may ‘hold the key to the history and evolution of the solar system‘ if the water is billions of years old. Potential sources include molecular clouds, solar winds, comets, or even somehow activity within the moon itself. There’s already discussion about the potential for development of a lunar space station. Phil’s got the details.

November 13th, 2009 Tags: ,
by Sheril Kirshenbaum in Astronomy, Space | 12 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >

12 Responses to “The Moon Is A Not-So-Harsh Mistress”

  1. 1.   Sorbet Says:

    “Significant” water on the moon has been known for a long time. For instance see Philip Ball’s wonderful book “Life’s Matrix: The Biography of Water”.

  2. 2.   Davo Says:

    Didn’t the Indian satellite Chandrayaan already discover water on the moon a couple of months back? Why is this novel?

  3. 3.   The Picture Below Shows The Future, My Friends « Around The Sphere Says:

    [...] Sheril Kirshenbaum at Discover: Water on the moon… Just wow! According to NASA, this discovery may ‘hold the key to the history and evolution of the solar system‘ if the water is billions of years old. Potential sources include molecular clouds, solar winds, comets, or even somehow activity within the moon itself. There’s already discussion about the potential for development of a lunar space station. Phil’s got the details. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Back to the Future(Not) The Seer [...]

  4. 4.   Alareth Says:

    @Davo

    We’ve had evidence of water on the Moon for some time now. It’s the quantity that has been at issue.

    We now know that it’s there in greater quantities than suspected and opens up possibilities we didn’t have before.

  5. 5.   MadScientist Says:

    “could allow for the development of a lunar station” I just have to laugh at that one. Sure it can be imagined and there is no fundamental physical limitation preventing it, but look at the mess known as the International Space Station. If we struggle so much to build a habitable station which is at most about 500km from earth, when can we expect to get our act together to build a habitable station almost 800 times as far? How will we supply such a station when we struggle even to supply the ISS?

  6. 6.   Sorbet Says:

    I am glad you changed the original title! Enough said.

  7. 7.   Sheril Kirshenbaum Says:

    @6 Sorbet,
    I’m embarrassed to say I hadn’t realized how the title came across–it was supposed to be a play on Heinlein’s novel The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. My apologies, I changed it as soon as I could.

  8. 8.   gss_000 Says:

    @Davo

    The evidence that’s been found before has been indirect. It’s been Hydrogen atoms that pointed strongly towards water, but it was never the water that was directly seen on this impact.

  9. 9.   Mike Licht Says:

    Why is NASA really seeking water on the Moon?

    see:

    http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/water-on-the-moon/

  10. 10.   Oreste Says:

    STRANGE ANOMALY DISCOVERED ON MOON IN NASA PHOTO… Buzz Aldrin comments on the “Monolith” on Mars Moon Phobos… APOLLO 11 UFO… VIDEO: “I Saw Structures on the Moon”:
    http://cristiannegureanu.blogspot.com/2009/09/strange-anomaly-discovered-on-moon-in.html

  11. 11.   Jean Says:

    Sheril, That’s funny. It proves you don’t have a dirty mind.

  12. 12.   Matt Says:

    I understood the title reference. Manny did, after all, loose a limb in an ice mining accident. Nice to know that the novel’s science speculation has been validated by the results of the experiment.

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