As reported by news agencies around the world, water on the moon is for real and it may be more accessible than expected. The turning point for future human missions comes from two studies published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
The first, coordinated by NASA, demonstrates the unequivocal discovery of the ‘signature’ of the water molecule (H2O), detected for the first time on the Moon by the Sofia flying telescope.
The second study, conducted by the University of Colorado, estimates that more than 40,000 square kilometers of the lunar surface could trap water in the form of ice in small shaded cavities.
Previous research had indicated the possible presence of water on the lunar surface, especially near the South pole, but the instruments used for the detections did not allow to distinguish whether the signal derived from the water molecule H2O or from the hydroxyl (OH) bound to minerals.
The Sofia telescope, mounted on board a Boeing 747, has solved the mystery by analyzing the spectrum of the Moon at a wavelength of 6 micrometers at which water can no longer be confused with anything else.
“Having seen the spectral signature of the water molecule is a big step forward, because it finally allows us to solve a question that has been open for years”, comments Enrico Flamini, president of the International School of Research for Planetary Sciences (IRSPS) at the University of Chieti-Pescara.
>But something mysterious, besides the pressure of water, was noticed inside a lunar crater
Shortly before the announcement of the discovery of water molecules, NASA showed images of a strange discovery made inside an impact crater on the lunar surface. The series of frames taken inside the crater were unearthed during the “NASA Unexplained Archives”.
During the analysis of the crater, an object of about 18 meters was noticed positioned inside the crater itself. That object would still have caused the crater thanks to the impact of something that does not correspond to a meteorite or other space fragment.
Meteorite expert Julia Ann Cartwright said the possibility that it was caused by a space rock could be ruled out.
So what is it about? Has an extraterrestrial spacecraft fallen to the lunar surface?
