The state of water on the Moon
Link here. The article describes new research that suggests the ice thought to exist in the Moon’s permanently shadowed polar craters is constantly being reworked, with some being leached away as other processes (comets, solar wind) replenish the losses.
They also theorize that this process might be making it easier to reach that water.
For forthcoming science and exploration, the scattering of water particles could be great news. It means astronauts may need not to subject themselves and their instruments to the harsh environment of shadowed crater floors in order to find water-rich soil — they could just find it in sunny regions nearby. “This research is telling us that meteoroids are doing some of the work for us and transporting material from the coldest places to some of the boundary regions where astronauts can access it with a solar-powered rover,” Hurley said.
To put it mildly, there is a lot of uncertainty about this last conclusion.
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Link here. The article describes new research that suggests the ice thought to exist in the Moon’s permanently shadowed polar craters is constantly being reworked, with some being leached away as other processes (comets, solar wind) replenish the losses.
They also theorize that this process might be making it easier to reach that water.
For forthcoming science and exploration, the scattering of water particles could be great news. It means astronauts may need not to subject themselves and their instruments to the harsh environment of shadowed crater floors in order to find water-rich soil — they could just find it in sunny regions nearby. “This research is telling us that meteoroids are doing some of the work for us and transporting material from the coldest places to some of the boundary regions where astronauts can access it with a solar-powered rover,” Hurley said.
To put it mildly, there is a lot of uncertainty about this last conclusion.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
I believe the statement of meteor impacts spreading water to other locations causing the moisture to boil away and sublimate deeper into the lunar regulith soil in easier to find locations it’s probably a sound theory that can be easily verified with a drill. It could result in just a trace, or an entire frozen world covered in meteorite dust under the surface…
If true, a bulldozer could push the top few inches exposing heat to the permafrost allowing the moisture to sublimate to the nearest insulated cold spot.
The permafrost could be mined, scooped into a closed system hotbox were the frozen gases will boil and be 100% recovered returning the dry dirt to the hole.