Water on the Moon

[CaptainDonovin]

CNN & Space.com are reporting the scientists measured about 100 kg of water (about 27 gallons). That's more than I thought they would find.

I would say this is rather important in planning where to land the next human when we decide to go back.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

I should also (for completeness) add that this find was based on the recent experiment to smash a rocket onto the Moon's surface:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8359744.stm

"Rather important" is a bit of an understatement. I think the implications are significant - there could be much more subterranean water up there than we realise. Certainly it could serve a future small moonbase if sufficient quantities are found - not completely self-sufficiently, of course, but it would be a start.

Now, all we need are the Whalers on the Moon™.

 

[Ward Fowler]

That's utterly fantastic. Very exciting news.

 

[Mallory]

Best news I've seen on CNN in a long time.

 

[sojourner]

To paraphrase one of the funniest articles on the Onion:

"Water on the Fucking Moon!"

 

[Alpha_Geek]

Good news! Hopefully it won't spoil the green cheese.

 

[flux_29]

wow, who would have thought there would be that much.

 

[ChristopherPike]

If I'd have known, I would've packed a snorkel...

 

[Zachary Smith]

Must be why my damn roof leaks . . .

 

[StarryEyed]

This is awesome! Very exciting stuff. This might make the moon a commercially-viable place to set up a base to produce rocket fuel for interplanetary missions launched from Earth.

 

[Squiggy]

I wonder...

If the water they detected during Apollo wasn't attributed to terrestrial contamination if we would've kept going.

 

[Mysterion]

Now if we could just get them to fix the plumbing! That damned "drip, drip, drip" every night is driving me nuts!

 

[Alpha_Geek]

Good pondering there, Squiggy. I've thought similar stuff bout Viking I and II and if they had been able to dig just a tad deeper.

 

[Samurai8472]

Now we have to worry about the water on mars......

 

[StarryEyed]

I wonder...

If the water they detected during Apollo wasn't attributed to terrestrial contamination if we would've kept going.

I doubt it. The Apollo program was driven by the cold war rivalry between the U.S. and the old Soviet Union. There was never any real vision on the part of the U.S. government or the mainstream population at that time. It was all about the U.S. asserting itself against the Soviets. Same thing with the Chinese launching a person into space and their ambitions towards the moon. Petty national posturing. Nothing more.

Real progress into space will be driven by commercial interests because that is where the mainstream's priorities lay. Minority individuals (geeks like us) may get a woody over the coolness and future implications for the human race regarding space travel but the mundanes are only interested in the bottom line. Show me how it benefits me in the here and now.

Would there have been commercial interest in establishing a permanent presence on the moon in the early seventies if we had known about the abundance of water? I doubt it. Corporations have even less imagination and vision than governments and the average citizen. Better to invest in something less speculative here on Earth than bet the farm on some big gamble in space.

It wasn't time yet in the early seventies. It should have been but it wasn't.

 

[MANT!]

Moonbase is possible?

Better get crackin..we're a bit late..

 

[T J]

Let the expansion of the solar system begin!

 

[ALF]

The question is... is it potable? Let's mix it with some whiskey and make the most expensive cocktail ever.

 

[Bluesteel]

Meh. Mars is still the place to go.

 

[T J]

Not without cheap fuel, that's where the moon comes in.