Findings of Ice on the Moon Surface and Expectations for the Future Moon Missions

The presence of ice on the moon has been confirmed but there are still several theories floating around the scientific community as regards to where the ice came from in the first place. Recently, researchers have discovered a potential water source on the lunar surface but not in the form that most would think.

It's obvious that the Moon's surface is dry and void of any noticeable body of liquid; that's because the Moon doesn't have an atmosphere. Instead, it has a thin layer of gas covering it called an exosphere which is too thin to support conditions that can sustain water, but recent missions to the Moon have discovered that traces of water present in the exosphere that was previously thought to be impossible.

An article from Cosmos Magazine shows researchers have recently made that discovery along with the presence of ice in the lower parts of the Moon's many craters near the lunar south pole. The researchers have many theories regarding where the water was coming from, like from the inner layers of the lunar surface or meteorites containing water that hit the moon in the past, but the leading theory they have is that solar winds created what water they discovered to be present. According to the story, solar winds emanating from the Sun that reach the Moon contain protons, which are basically hydrogen atoms but without the negative charges. On the other hand, the minerals found in moon rocks are rich in oxygen. The researchers theorize that when solar winds make contact with oxygen rich moon rocks, water may be formed and then released into the exosphere.

Physical chemist and research team leader Ralf Kaiser from the University of Hawaii at Manoa conducted two experiment, as reported through Cosmos Magazine, to see if the theory was plausible. Kaiser and his team placed powdered olivine crystals inside an extremely cold vacuum to replicate the conditions in space. Afterwards, they exposed the powder to radiation that was close to 300 years worth of solar wind exposure, then heated up the powder to 27 degrees celsius to see if any water was formed from the reaction.

Unfortunately, Kaiser and his team's experiment yielded negative results but Kaiser told Cosmos that other researchers tried the same experiment and got varied results; water was produced in some instances, but not all of them, however Kaiser states the water produced in the 'successful' experiments actually came from the surroundings and not through the experimentation process.

In their second experiment, Kaiser and his team used a slightly different vacuum chamber and irradiated their faux moon dust with deuterium instead of hydrogen atoms. Deuterium is a heavier form of hydrogen but the team opted to use it because it is less abundant here on Earth, meaning that any chance of water forming due to any uncontrolled intrusions in the vacuum chamber would be significantly lower. The experiment eventually failed, but that didn't stop the team from trying again, so they took a different approach.

They began to incorporate silicon into the equation and a different heat source outside of solar winds. Kaiser postulated that impacts from 'micro-meteorites' can also cause reactions in moon dust by spiking temperatures from 27 degrees celsius all the way up to an intense 1100 degrees celsius. On top of heating their moon dust, the team used a laser to simulate the impact from micro-meteorites and by the end of the experiment, they successfully got water, although the amount of it that can be produced through this method is still questionable.

The success of the experiment meant two things: the first is that their initial 'solar wind produces water on the moon' theory was partially true and second, moon dust could potentially be used as a source of water, effectively enabling lunar colonization in the future. Kaiser also says that the reaction between burning oxygen and hydrogen can also be used as fuel in the event that colonization

The Future of Moon Missions

The research conducted by Kaiser and his associates have opened up new possibilities for humanity's attempts at understanding the cosmos and their discovery couldn't have come at a better time. NASA's plan to land the next team of astronauts to the moon by 2024 under the Artemis project is coming along quite nicely and it can be a great opportunity to gain more valuable research material for the scientists here at home. The water research can also mean wonders for the United States's plan to establish a lunar base along the moon's south pole.

Although the team is relatively unsure if zapping moon dust with a high-powered laser will be the most efficient or reliable method of producing water, progress is still progress. Now that a significant cosmological concept has been partially proven to be true, researchers will now have more options to consider whenever conducting moon research.