{"id":2870,"date":"2019-04-08T16:56:32","date_gmt":"2019-04-08T13:56:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/energyholding.world\/?p=2870"},"modified":"2019-04-08T17:06:42","modified_gmt":"2019-04-08T14:06:42","slug":"nasas-lro-sheds-light-on-lunar-water-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/energyholding.world\/?p=2870","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s LRO Sheds Light on Lunar Water Movement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Using an instrument aboard NASA\u2019s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO),\n scientists have observed water molecules moving around the dayside of \nthe Moon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A paper published in Geophysical Research Letters describes how Lyman\n Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) measurements of the sparse layer of \nmolecules temporarily stuck to the surface helped characterize lunar \nhydration changes over the course of a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Up until the last decade or so, scientists thought the Moon was arid,\n with any water existing mainly as pockets of ice in permanently shaded \ncraters near the poles. More recently, scientists have identified \nsurface water in sparse populations of molecules bound to the lunar \nsoil, or regolith. The amount and locations vary based on the time of \nday. This water is more common at higher latitudes and tends to hop \naround as the surface heats up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is an important new result about lunar water, a hot topic as \nour nation\u2019s space program returns to a focus on lunar exploration,\u201d \nsaid Dr. Kurt Retherford, the principal investigator of the LAMP \ninstrument from Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. \u201cWe \nrecently converted the LAMP\u2019s light collection mode to measure reflected\n signals on the lunar dayside with more precision, allowing us to track \nmore accurately where the water is and how much is present.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water molecules remain tightly bound to the regolith until surface \ntemperatures peak near lunar noon. Then, molecules thermally desorb and \ncan bounce to a nearby location that is cold enough for the molecule to \nstick or populate the Moon\u2019s extremely tenuous atmosphere or exosphere, \nuntil temperatures drop and the molecules return to the surface. SwRI\u2019s \nDr. Michael Poston, now a research scientist on the LAMP team, had \npreviously conducted extensive experiments with water and lunar samples \ncollected by the Apollo missions. This research revealed the amount of \nenergy needed to remove water molecules from lunar materials, helping \nscientists understand how water is bound to surface materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLunar hydration is tricky to measure from orbit, due to the complex \nway that light reflects off of the lunar surface,\u201d Poston said. \n\u201cPrevious research reported quantities of hopping water molecules that \nwere too large to explain with known physical processes. I\u2019m excited \nabout these latest results because the amount of water interpreted here \nis consistent with what lab measurements indicate is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientists have hypothesized that hydrogen ions in the solar wind may\n be the source of most of the Moon\u2019s surface water. With that in mind, \nwhen the Moon passes behind the Earth and is shielded from the solar \nwind, the \u201cwater spigot\u201d should essentially turn off. However, the water\n observed by LAMP does not decrease when the Moon is shielded by the \nEarth and the region influenced by its magnetic field, suggesting water \nbuilds up over time, rather than \u201craining\u201d down directly from the solar \nwind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese results aid in understanding the lunar water cycle and will \nultimately help us learn about accessibility of water that can be used \nby humans in future missions to the Moon,\u201d said Amanda Hendrix, a senior\n scientist at the Planetary Science Institute and lead author of the \npaper. \u201cLunar water can potentially be used by humans to make fuel or to\n use for radiation shielding or thermal management; if these materials \ndo not need to be launched from Earth, that makes these future missions \nmore affordable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis result is an important step in advancing the water story on the\n Moon and is a result of years of accumulated data from the LRO \nmission,\u201d said John Keller, LRO deputy project scientist from NASA’s \nGoddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goddard manages the LRO mission for the Science Mission Directorate \nat NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Funding for the research came \nfrom LRO, and the team received additional support from a NASA Solar \nSystem Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) cooperative \nagreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NASA is leading a sustainable return to the Moon with commercial and international partners to expand human presence in space and bring back new knowledge and opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/feature\/goddard\/2019\/lro-sheds-light-on-lunar-water-movement<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Using an instrument aboard NASA\u2019s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), scientists have observed water molecules moving around the dayside of the Moon. A paper published in Geophysical Research Letters describes how Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) measurements of the sparse layer of molecules temporarily stuck to the surface helped characterize lunar hydration changes over the course […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/energyholding.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2870"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/energyholding.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/energyholding.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/energyholding.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/energyholding.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2870"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/energyholding.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2873,"href":"http:\/\/energyholding.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2870\/revisions\/2873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/energyholding.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/energyholding.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/energyholding.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}