Chandrayan finds water. ISRO gets a shot in the arm

[punjabi_khota]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/science/space/24moon.html?hp There appears to be, to the surprise of planetary scientists, water, water everywhere on the Moon, although how many drops future astronauts might be able to drink is not clear. Data from three spacecraft indicate the widespread presence of water or hydroxyl, a molecule consisting of one hydrogen atom and one oxygen atom as opposed to the two hydrogen and one oxygen atoms that make up a water molecule. The discoveries are being published Thursday on the Web site of the journal Science. “It’s so startling because it’s so pervasive,” said Lawrence A. Taylor of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, a co-author of one of the papers that analyzed data from a National Aeronautics and Space Administration instrument aboard India’s Chandrayyan-1 satellite. “It’s like somebody painted the globe.” For decades, the Moon has been regarded as a completely dry place. The dark side is more than ice cold, but when it passes into sunlight, any ice should have long ago been baked away. The possible exceptions are permanently shadowed craters near the Moon’s poles, and data announced this month by NASA verified the presence of hydrogen in those areas, which would most likely be in the form of water. If water is somehow more widespread, that could make future settlement of the Moon easier, especially if significant water could be extracted just by heating the soil. Oxygen would also be a key component for breathable air for astronauts, and hydrogen and oxygen can also be used for rocket fuel or power generation. Samples of lunar soil brought back from NASA’s Apollo missions about four decades ago actually did show signs of water, but most scientists working with the samples, including Dr. Taylor, dismissed the readings as contamination from humid Houston air that seeped in before the rocks were analyzed at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. “I was one of the ones back in the Apollo days that was firmly against lunar water,” Dr. Taylor said. Now he is convinced he was wrong. “I’ve eaten my shorts,” he said. The Chandrayyan-1 data looked at sunlight reflected off the Moon’s surface and found a dip at a wavelength where water and hydroxyl absorb infrared light. Dr. Taylor estimated the concentration at about one quart of water per cubic yard of lunar soil and rock. Meanwhile, Roger N. Clark of the United States Geological Survey analyzed decade-old data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft when it passed the Moon en route to Saturn. He, too, found signs of water or hydroxyl, mostly at the poles, but also at lower latitudes. Scientists working with the Deep Impact spacecraft, which later studied the Comet Tempel 1, also found infrared absorption at the water and hydroxyl wavelengths. More interesting, the amount of absorption — and thus the quantity of water — varied over time. That suggests the water is being created when protons from the solar wind slam into the lunar surface. The collisions may free oxygen atoms in the minerals and allow them to recombine with protons and electrons to form water. Lori M. Feaga, a research scientist at the University of Maryland who is a member of the team that analyzed the Deep Impact data, said this process would work only to about one millimeter into the lunar surface. If correct, that would not give future astronauts much to drink. “You would have to scrape the area of a baseball field or a football field to get one quart of water,” she said. :yay::yay::yay:

[flamy]

motha! :isalute: :yay:

[ludhianvi]

why not ship some thousands of litres of water and earth soil and drop it on the moon?:tounge_smile:

[punjabi_khota]

why not ship some thousands of litres of water and earth soil and drop it on the moon?:tounge_smile:

Roughly, cost of transporting 1 pound of stuff to space (e.g. space station) is about $10,000-$15,000 when send in bulk. :icflove:

[ludhianvi]

Roughly' date=' cost of transporting 1 pound of stuff to space (e.g. space station) is about $10,000-$15,000 when send in bulk. :icflove:[/quote'] that's relatively pretty cheap no? Speaking of which, what if you dump lots of water in deserts, will it become green again? And how about reflectors that mirror the Sun's energy to areas that dont get sunlight? Or how about using magnetic energy to power up into space? Are these cool ideas or what? :woot: You're the rocket master, enlighten Sir

[graphic23]

We need sand. Where else will we get Silicon from if we get rid of deserts? in b4 pervs. I actually had Integrated Circuits and the likes in mind when I spoke of silicon. To the OP, :yay: Awesome stuff.

[punjabi_khota]

that's relatively pretty cheap no? Speaking of which, what if you dump lots of water in deserts, will it become green again? And how about reflectors that mirror the Sun's energy to areas that dont get sunlight? Or how about using magnetic energy to power up into space? Are these cool ideas or what? :woot: You're the rocket master, enlighten Sir

:hysterical: Take a 1m x 1m x 1m water tank. Amount of water it = 1000 Kg => approx 2500 lb. $ required to transport = 2500*$10,000=25 million dollars. :(( Average person in US uses about 300 litres of water every day, so 25 million dollars worth of water will be used up in 3 days :hehe:

[ludhianvi]

:hysterical: Take a 1m x 1m x 1m water tank. Amount of water it = 1000 Kg => approx 2500 lb. $ required to transport = 2500*$10,000=25 million dollars. :(( Average person in US uses about 300 litres of water every day, so 25 million dollars worth of water will be used up in 3 days :hehe:

I see :hmmm:

[Anonymous]

:isalute: Our desi news channels are already going gaga on this news. NASA is gonna make an announcement shortly it seems...

[nikred]

:isalute:

[mhr123]

But who said Chandrayan Mission failed... Zaid Hamid ? :hmmmm:

[Ram]

Hmm, lets not get all worked, shall we? Chandrayaan per se didnt find water on the moon, the NASA instrument aboard it found it. Sure, ISRO getting its orbiter up there had a big part to play in all this and we should get the credit we deserve, but nonetheless, this isnt something going to town about.

[punjabi_khota]

Hmm' date=' lets not get all worked, shall we? [i']Chandrayaan per se didnt find water on the moon, the NASA instrument aboard it found it. Sure, ISRO getting its orbiter up there had a big part to play in all this and we should get the credit we deserve, but nonetheless, this isnt something going to town about.

Naah dude, this is truly historical stuff. If the reports are true about water presence in the quantities mentioned being confirmed by various scientists, then every time in future they mention water on moon, Chandrayan's name will come up. :yay::yay: Suck it China :finger:

[nikred]

Hmm' date=' lets not get all worked, shall we? [i']Chandrayaan per se didnt find water on the moon, the NASA instrument aboard it found it. Sure, ISRO getting its orbiter up there had a big part to play in all this and we should get the credit we deserve, but nonetheless, this isnt something going to town about.

In a horse race for coming first both the ghoda and the jockey get credit. :yay: ........alright very poor analogy, but still. :--D

[nikred]

But who said Chandrayan Mission failed... Zaid Hamid ? :hmmmm:

Did the mofo really say that? :mad:

[varun]

:two_thumbs_up::two_thumbs_up::two_thumbs_up: What happenned to He-3 btw ? http://www.indiancricketfans.com/showpost.php?p=501193&postcount=47 I think the vehicle's name is chandra-yaan (moon-vehicle) rather than chadrayan

[King Tendulkar]

This is brillinat. Massive news and something for Indians to be relly proud of. This is making headlines all over the world that INDIA discovers water on the moon:isalute: Can now proudly say to day that we(INDIA) discovered water on the moon:two_thumbs_up:

[ViruRulez]

:isalute: *goes off to watch Aaj Tak and CNN IBN*

[donkey]

NASA and ISRO havent confirmed anything. Can we really trust Indian media on this one.

[ViruRulez]

NASA and ISRO havent confirmed anything. Can we really trust Indian media on this one.

I would not have trusted only Indian media but the article in the first post is from NY Times and so it can be trusted to some extent. But still an official confirmation from NASA and ISRO would only give concrete validity to the news.