Scientists Confirm Water Ice On Moon's Surface For First Time
Sumaira FH Published August 24, 2018 | 03:03 PM
WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Aug, 2018 ) :For the first time, scientists have directly observed definitive evidence of water ice on the moon's surface, U.S. space agency NASA has said.
Most of the newly found water ice lies in the shadows of craters near the moon's polar regions, where sunlight never reaches and the warmest temperatures never reach above minus 250 degrees Fahrenheit (about minus 157 degrees Celsius), NASA said in a statement earlier this week.
"These ice deposits are patchily distributed and could possibly be ancient," the statement said.
"At the southern pole, most of the ice is concentrated at lunar craters, while the northern pole's ice is more widely, but sparsely spread," it added.
Previous observations found possible signs of surface ice at the lunar south pole, but these could have been explained by other phenomena, such as unusually reflective lunar soil.
In the latest study, scientists used data from NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument to confirm the presence of solid ice on the moon.
M3 collected data that not only picked up the reflective properties of ice, but was able to directly measure the distinctive way its molecules absorb infrared light, so as to differentiate between liquid water or vapor and solid ice.
"With enough ice sitting at the surface -- within the top few millimeters -- water would possibly be accessible as a resource for future expeditions to explore and even stay on the Moon, and potentially easier to access than the water detected beneath the Moon's surface," the statement said.
"Learning more about this ice, how it got there, and how it interacts with the larger lunar environment will be a key mission focus for NASA and commercial partners, as we endeavor to return to and explore our closest neighbor, the Moon," it added.
The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National academy of Sciences on Monday.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
Rock-solid Ruud racks up season-leading win in Barcelona
At UN, Iran says it will make Israel 'regret' reprisals
G7 hears calls for 'critical' Ukraine aid
EU seeks to leverage might to confront China, US challenge
5 Customs officials martyred as their vehicle ambushed by terrorists in D I Khan
Pak-New Zealand match called off due to rain
NHA restores traffic on roads affected by recent rains in Balochistan
China to fully support Pakistan's efforts against terrorism: Ambassador Jiang
U.S. envoy calls on Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar
Poland arrests man over suspected plan to kill Zelensky
EU wants to ease youth movement to and from UK
Police foils attempt of supply mainpuri raw material
More Stories From World
-
At G7, Blinken seeks European support for pressure on China
5 hours ago -
Thousands of Bosnian Serbs rally against UN resolution on Srebrenica
5 hours ago -
Israel assault has turned Gaza into 'humanitarian hellscape': UN
5 hours ago -
Husband of ex-Scottish leader charged over alleged embezzlement: police
6 hours ago -
Ecuador hit by power cuts of up to 13 hours amid drought
6 hours ago -
Hugs or bullets? How Mexico presidential rivals aim to curb violence
6 hours ago
-
Kenya military chopper crash kills defence chief, senior officers
7 hours ago -
Biden hails 'incredible' Kennedy family backing against RFK Jr.
7 hours ago -
Maldives court frees jailed ex-president ahead of vote
7 hours ago -
Probe into Portugal ex-PM Costa appears to collapse
7 hours ago -
Jury selection stalls in Trump criminal trial
7 hours ago -
At UN, Iran says it will make Israel 'regret' reprisals
7 hours ago