NASA scientists said last week that smacking the moon with a satellite on Oct. 9 unequivocally demonstrated that there is water there. When the satellite hit the surface at a speed of 1.5 miles per second, it sent up a plume of dust and vapor.
Spectrographic analysis of the cloud confirmed the presence of water ”“ gallons of it. “We found a significant amount,” exulted the project’s lead scientist.
The discovery raises fundamental questions about the geology of the moon and perhaps about the origins of water. It will raise practical issues as well, including greater interest in establishing bases on the moon for research, exploration and other purposes.
Eventually the world will need a system for overseeing the use of the moon and whatever other resources it has. For individual nations, the presence of water may be an incentive to establish bases for space exploration and other purposes.
The discovery comes at a difficult moment for NASA. It faces the imminent retirement of its Space Shuttle fleet amid confusion about what the next step will be. A blue ribbon panel’s review of NASA’s next generation Constellation program ”“ a reusable rocket, crew capsule and lunar lander ”“ gave it a negative review.
The decision on the U.S. future in space is now before the president. NASA’s confirmation that there is considerable water on the moon provides a strong argument for maintaining a robust U.S. space exploration effort. The moon now has greater importance as a destination ”“ for the U.S. and any nation interested in planting its flag on unclaimed territory.
— Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Nick Cowenhoven at nickc@journaltribune.com or City Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
