Scientists Find Possibility Of Water Ice On Moon

According to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), a study has revealed evidence for enhanced possibility of water ice occurrence in the polar craters of the Moon. The study was carried out by the scientists of Space Applications Centre (SAC)/ISRO, in collaboration with researchers at IIT Kanpur, University of Southern California, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and IIT (ISM) Dhanbad.

The recent study suggests that the amount of subsurface ice in the first couple of meters is about five to eight times larger than the one at the surface in both poles. As such, drilling on the Moon to sample or excavate that ice will be primordial for future missions and long-term human presence. Moreover, the study also suggests that there is twice as much water ice in the northern polar region compared to the southern polar region.

How Was Ice Formed On The Moon?

As for the origin of this ice, the study confirms the hypothesis that the primary source of sub-surface water ice in the lunar poles is outgassing during volcanism in the Imbrian period. The results also conclude that the distribution of water ice is likely governed by “Mare volcanism” and preferential impact cratering.

How Was The Study Conducted?

The research team used seven instruments comprising radar, laser, optical, neutron spectrometer, ultra-violet spectrometer, and thermal radiometer onboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to understand the origin and distribution of water ice on the Moon.

Accurate knowledge of the distribution and depth of water ice occurrence in the lunar poles, as presented in the investigations, is crucial for constraining the uncertainties in selecting future landing and sampling sites for missions aimed at exploring and characterizing lunar volatiles.

This result also supports a previous study of SAC, ISRO pointing out the possibility of the presence of water ice in some of the polar craters, utilizing polarimetric radar data from the Chandrayaan-2 Dual-frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar instrument.

Alongside, the presented comprehensive understanding of the occurrence of water ice in the lunar poles, in this study, is crucial for supporting ISRO’s future in-situ volatile exploration plans on the Moon.

Some Key Facts On The Moon

The Moon was likely formed after a Mars-sized body collided with Earth several billion years ago.
The Earth’s only natural satellite is simply called “the Moon” because people didn’t know other moons existed until Galileo Galilei discovered four moons orbiting Jupiter in 1610.
In Latin, the Moon was called Luna, which is the main adjective for all things Moon-related: lunar.
With a radius of about 1,740 kilometers, the Moon is less than a third of the width of Earth.
The Moon is an average of 384,400 kilometers away. That means 30 Earth-sized planets could fit in between Earth and the Moon.
The Moon is slowly moving away from Earth, getting about an inch farther away each year.
The many missions that have explored the Moon have found no evidence to suggest it has its own living things. However, the Moon could be the site of future colonization by humans.
The discovery that the Moon harbors water ice, and that the highest concentrations occur within darkened craters at the poles, makes the Moon a little more hospitable for future human colonists.
The first definitive discovery of water was made in 2008 by the Indian mission Chandrayaan-1, which detected hydroxyl molecules spread across the lunar surface and concentrated at the poles.
The Moon makes a complete orbit around Earth in 27 Earth days and rotates or spins at that same rate, or in that same amount of time.
The Moon has a core, mantle, and crust.
The Moon’s core is proportionally smaller than other terrestrial bodies’ cores. The solid, iron-rich inner core is 240 kilometers in radius. It is surrounded by a liquid iron shell 90 kilometers thick. A partially molten layer with a thickness of 150 kilometers surrounds the iron core.
The Moon has a very thin and weak atmosphere, called an exosphere. It does not provide any protection from the Sun’s radiation or impacts from meteoroids.