Water is essential for all living beings. This great saying is proved by NASA; they extracted water on the moon. The water is present there; our new observation has revealed it. The water becomes ice that is embedded in the soil present over there. The water is an essential thing. It is helpful for the astronauts who live and work over there on the moon.
The two studies of NASA are published in the journal Nature. One study reveals that water has covered the surface area of the lunar where the direct light of the sun falls and the second one says that small craters make the water more accessible than we have ever imagined.
One of the planetary scientists and also a lead author of Nature, Paul Hayne at the University of Colorado told. It’s been years ago, water is found out there on the moon but it was present in large craters. Water in large craters proved to be dangerous and very difficult to reach near it because it reaches -400 degrees Fahrenheit which is impossible to access. Water has been found in the dangerous or the coldest region of the Solar system.
Now the astronauts find water at a safe place to live and far away from the dangerous areas. Finding water there at the moon is quite easily accessible with the technologies. As if the astronauts are successful to find the water at a safe place, then why should one go to dangerous or dark places?
Challenge to Extract The Water Ice From the Moon?
It’s a challenge for the astronauts that how they are able to extract it from the lunar surface. They put the water on the surface and purify it, making it fit to drink or fit for the plantation. They can also break down the water molecules into its basic components i.e., hydrogen and oxygen, and also use it as rocket fuel. It quite expensive sending the astronauts on the moon but if they got success to find the verge on the moon then they can sustain themselves there making it relatively cheap for them to survive on the lunar surface.
One of the NASA administrators Jim Bridenstine also claimed that water is present over there in huge quantities. For the past two years, NASA is trying to fulfill its Artemis program, where “Sustainability” is its ultimate aim to achieve. But we have got no idea about the presence of water.
Presence of Water
Firstly, we got a confirmation about the presence of water in the year 2008, when India sends its spacecraft named Chandrayaan-1 on the moon and there it showed the signs of the presence of water molecules. Then after that declaration, in the year 2009, another spacecraft called LCROSS was sent to the moon to confirm whether water was present there or not. But in the year 2018, researchers got success from the spacecraft about the presence of water at the moon surface. It is still a question that what quantity of water Is present over there? Another question that arises is what the ice looks like? Is it clustered or clumped together?
The answer is not properly given. But the study of Honniball and her team NASA’s Sofia observatory gave us a satisfactory reply. A Boeing 747 that is well equipped with instruments and telescopes study the objects. And find the water molecules on the surface of the earth. Honniball study gave us a surprising reply about the presence of water that water could only survive on the surface of the earth where the light of the sun falls.
The second discovery didn’t detect the water but it finds the small craters on the surface of the Moon. According to NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, the researchers believed that the small chunks are not dangerous and the cold region retains the frozen ice. Unlike the huge craters are dangerous and very difficult to extract. The small chunks are easily extracted and could be get by bend over on the knees and hands.
Extracting of Water From the Dirt
How to extract the water if present in the dirt of the moon? The first study detected water equivalent to 12-ounce bottles of water. And if the water is trapped in the dirt. Then it is a time-consuming process and a lot of work to do. Honniball says,” the method to extract the water is to melt the glass first so that the water can be released.”
Conclusion
NASA and its fellow companies are trying hard to get more information directly from the Moon. In the coming year, 2023, NASA is planning to send a rover to the moon. And they called it Viper which will extract more information and will collect the samples out of there. A private company called Intuitive Machines, planning to send a robotic lander to the Lunar Surface in the year 2022. Last but not the least, the data that will be extracted from these rovers will determine whether the astronauts will make use of the water found at the lunar surface or not.
