Thursday, September 24, 2009

It's Official: Water Found on the Moon

This mosaic, taken from a NASA animation, shows altitude measurements of the moon's south pole from the LOLA instrument aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Some craters, including Cabeus A that will be hit by the LCROSS probe, are named in this view released Sept. 17, 2009. Credit: NASA/GSFC
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 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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Via: Space.com

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