Many folks would like to see us back on the Moon and developing its resources.

Friday, September 25, 2009

NASA Instruments Reveal Water Molecules on Lunar Surface

Well the word is out, THERE IS WATER on the Moon.
The press is getting the word. Web sites are echoing.

Did Congress and the President here?
Now all we need is $$$$$$$$$$$
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/topics/moonmars/features/moon20090924.html
NASA Instruments Reveal Water Molecules on Lunar Surface

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA scientists have discovered water molecules in the polar regions of the moon. Instruments aboard three separate spacecraft revealed water molecules in amounts that are greater than predicted, but still relatively small. Hydroxyl, a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom, also was found in the lunar soil. The findings were published in Thursday's edition of the journal Science.

NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper, or M3, instrument reported the observations. M3 was carried into space on Oct. 22, 2008, aboard the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. Data from the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer, or VIMS, on NASA's Cassini spacecraft, and the High-Resolution Infrared Imaging
Spectrometer on NASA's Epoxi spacecraft contributed to confirmation of the finding. The spacecraft imaging spectrometers made it possible to map lunar water more effectively than ever before.

The confirmation of elevated water molecules and hydroxyl at these concentrations in the moon's polar regions raises new questions about its origin and effect on the mineralogy of the moon. Answers to these questions will be studied and debated for years to come.

"Water ice on the moon has been something of a holy grail for lunar scientists for a very long time," said Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "This surprising finding has come about through the ingenuity, perseverance and international cooperation between NASA and the India Space Research Organization."

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Pass it on, Talk it up. Get the ball rolling, we want to go drilling on the Moon.
- LRK -

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http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/24sep_moonwater.htm?list965414
Water Molecules Found on the Moon
09.24.2009

September 24, 2009: NASA scientists have discovered water molecules in the polar regions of the Moon. Instruments aboard three separate spacecraft revealed water molecules in amounts that are greater than predicted, but still relatively small. Hydroxyl, a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom, also was found in the lunar soil. The findings were published in Thursday's edition of the journal Science.

The observations were made by NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper, or M3 ("M-cubed"), aboard the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. NASA's Cassini spacecraft and NASA's Epoxi spacecraft have confirmed the find.

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I would really like to have ground proof. Boil that regolith for my coffee water. :-)

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lrkellogg
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http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/sep/HQ_09-215_LRO_First_Light.html
Sept. 17, 2009
RELEASE : 09-215

NASA Lunar Satellite Begins Detailed Mapping of Moon's South Pole

GREENBELT, Md. -- NASA reported Thursday that its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has successfully completed its testing and calibration phase and entered its mapping orbit of the moon. The spacecraft already has made significant progress toward creating the most detailed atlas of the moon's south pole to date. Scientists released preliminary images and data from LRO's seven instruments. "The LRO mission already has begun to give us new data that will lead to a vastly improved atlas of the lunar south pole and advance our capability for human exploration and scientific benefit," said Richard Vondrak, LRO project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

LRO is scheduled for a one-year exploration mission in a polar orbit of about 31 miles above the lunar surface, the closest any spacecraft has orbited the moon. During the next year, LRO will produce a complete map of the lunar surface in unprecedented detail, search for resources and safe landing sites for human explorers, and measure
lunar temperatures and radiation levels.

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For more information about LRO and to view the new images, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/lro
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http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090923-moon-water-discovery.html
It's Official: Water Found on the Moon
By Andrea Thompson
Senior Writer
posted: 23 September 2009
06:17 pm ET

Since man first touched the moon and brought pieces of it back to Earth, scientists have thought that the lunar surface was bone dry. But new observations from three different spacecraft have put this notion to rest with what has been called "unambiguous evidence" of water across the surface of the moon.

The new findings, detailed in the Sept. 25 issue of the journal Science, come in the wake of further evidence of lunar polar water ice by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and just weeks before the planned lunar impact of NASA's LCROSS satellite, which will hit one of the permanently shadowed craters at the moon's south pole in hope of
churning up evidence of water ice deposits in the debris field.

The moon remains drier than any desert on Earth, but the water is said to exist on the moon in very small quantities. One ton of the top layer of the lunar surface would hold about 32 ounces of water, researchers said.

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http://blogtopscience.blogspot.com/2009/09/scienceblogs-channel-physical-science_25.html
ScienceBlog Channel : Physical Channel

The Moon is a Not-So-Harsh Mistress [Built on Facts]
Posted: 24 Sep 2009 12:16 PM PDT
Astronomers and space exploration enthusiasts around the web are expressing lots of enthusiasm for the discovery of water on the moon by the Indian Chandrayaan-1 orbiter. Long story short (Ethan has a good version of the long story), the probe discovered relatively large quantities of water frozen throughout the lunar soil just below the surface. It's not just at the bottom of craters in the polar regions, but instead seems to be quite widespread.

It's a big deal for a lot of reasons. From a pure science perspective, it's exciting to learn such a major and mostly unexpected fact about or nearest large celestial neighbor. From a human exploration perspective, water is vital for long term lunar settlement. It's not just something to drink, it's a potential source of breathable oxygen as well as a source of atomic hydrogen and oxygen for chemical production of all kinds of important substances. Rocket fuel is the
most obvious, but far from the only possibility .

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http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/24/water-on-shakes-magic-8-ball-mars-this-time/
Water on (shakes Magic 8 Ball) mars this time

Hard on the heels of the water-on-the-Moon announcement comes news of water on Mars (there’s also a press release). Now, we already know there’s water ice on Mars; it’s been seen in a zillion places. What’s cool about this is that there’s a lot of it, and the water is incredibly pure: less than 1% of it is made up of dirt mixed in. That’s probably better than I get out of my tap at home.

Well, not really. But still. Here’s a shot of the ice:

http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/gallery/press/20090924a.html
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/gallery/press/20090924a/site3_br.jpg

This picture, taken in November 2008, is by the awesomely awesome HiRISE camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has seen several of these patches, where ice just beneath the surface is
excavated and ejected by an impact event. They all appear to be craters formed from recent impacts, and by "recent" I mean recent: the one shown above was not there in early 2008.

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NASA Science News for September 24, 2009
Fresh meteorite impacts are exposing underground ice on Mars. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is beaming back must-see photos of the process at work.

FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/24sep_martianice.htm?list965414
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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