Moon explorer points to hydrogen in sunny parts of south pole

William Atkins
Saturday, 19 September 2009 20:17

Science - Space

The NASA article comments: “The spacecraft already has made significant progress toward creating the most detailed atlas of the moon's south pole to date.”

And, LRO project scientist Richard Vondrak (from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland) states, "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.” [NASA]

At its low position from the Moon—only an average of 50 kilometers (31 miles) from its surface—the LRO spacecraft is expected to complete an analysis of the Moon that will be in far greater detail (“unprecedented,” was the word used by NASA) than any other lunar-orbiting spacecraft before it.

This lunar map will be used to look for water-ice and other researchers for future Earth travelers, search for safe landing sites for these astronauts (and those that have the most interesting terrain and resources for future missions and bases), and analyze the physical attributes of the Moon, such as its temperature and radiation levels.

Right now NASA isn't sure how much water-ice is present in and around the south pole region of the Moon.

Richard Vondrak, project scientist for the LRO mission, states, "We don't know the abundance or how deeply it is buried." However, indications show that it's there and now it is necessary to find more about where it is located and in what quantities. {Los Angeles Times: “NASA scientists find hydrogen in moon's sunlit regions”]

One of these analytical methods will be coming up shortly, on October 9, 2009, when the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), which was launched with LRO, but has been sent off on its own mission, will watch as its used-up Centaur rocket is sent into the south pole crater Cabeus A. It will measure what substances are in the cloud of debris that results from the collision.

Then, LCROSS will also be deliberately crashed into the same crater so that other spacecraft can make similar measurements of the resulting debris field.

Check out more details of the Cabeus A collision with the Centaur rocket and LCROSS in the September 13, 2009 iTWire article “NASA selects Cabeus A as lunar impact site for LCROSS.”

Water is very important for future human exploration of the solar system because it is very heavy to transport inside of spacecraft launched from Earth. If we can, instead, load it up from the Moon, it makes exploration a lot easier and much less expensive.

Water-ice can also be used to make oxygen for astronauts to breathe while living on lunar bases. The hydrogen within water can also be used to power spacecraft send to Mars.

In other words, finding a lot of water on the Moon is important for the success of future missions and bases, both, on the Moon and on Mars, and for other places we decide to go as humans go further out into our Solar System.