Researchers at the University of California have found vital information on the origin of water in the satellite in lunar rocks. With its finding, the team hopes to reduce the area of reserves of the resource for future space colonies on the moon and Mars.
Scientists have confirmed the existence of water on the Moon for almost three decades. The element is on the surface, frozen in craters and also encapsulated in minerals, according to the most recent studies. However, the exact location of these “water wells” for human use remains one of the main unknowns to solve.
To find the location of water in the satellite, it is necessary to know how it got there. Currently, three possibilities are considered: the resource molecules were already present since the formation of the moon (native approach), the water was created from the hydrogen that arrived by the solar wind, or is the product of the meteorite collisions of the past . Each hypothesis has different implications for the probable distribution of the current resource.
Luna scholars also face the great challenge of the absence of samples. The only lunar rocks available to study in laboratories come from Apollo missions, which returned 50 years ago. Currently, to investigate the origin of water in the satellite, researchers must fix them with tiny regolito samples.
Despite these challenges, UC San Diego scientists designed a technique to extract water from ultrapequeña samples from lunar rocks. To do this, they heated the material up to 1,000 ° C. In their own words, the samples “were more wet than you could imagine.” Its method, in addition, allowed separating oxygen impregnated with billions of years of history and, from there, providing evidence on the origin of water on the moon.
From the lunar regolite, they achieved three oxygen isotopes that revealed how and when they reached the surface. Their data showed that most of the lunar water is probably explained by the native approach and the impact of meteorites rich on resource molecules. The idea that water comes from solar wind has lost strength in front of others.
“We are using advanced techniques to support the ideas of common sense on lunar water. Much of her has been there from the beginning and added more with impact of ice cream comets. This type of work has not been done before and we believe that NASA can provide some valuable tracks on where the water is, ” Maxwell Thiemens saidmain author of the study.
In the past, the first civilizations were established near Ríos and Lagos. In the space future, the same logic will be followed. The location of water repositories is essential. With their progress, researchers expect future moon space colonies to be established in sites with craters, instead of addressing regions where more solar wind arrives.
“Our data supports a primary source of native water for the moon. This dominant source of Estatita may have been an initial reservoir of the Earth-Line Impact or a consequence of the materials delivered in the early stages of growth of the Moon, ”concludes the article published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
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