The Moon Could Be a ‘Chemical Factory’ for Making Water
NASA scientists recently simulated the reaction that happens when solar wind hits the moon at a speed of 450 kilometers per second, discovering that protons from the wind interact with electrons on the lunar surface to form hydrogen atoms. The hydrogen then bonds with oxygen atoms in the silica-rich moon dust to form the hydroxyl molecule — a vital component for hydration. Their results have been published in the JGR Planets journal
“Understanding the water content in the Moon’s surface and its thin atmosphere is of interest for space missions,” wrote the researchers. As NASA gears up to send crewed missions to the moon and considers the natural satellite as a location for future human settlements, it is vital to understand how much water is available.
“We’re trying to learn about the dynamics of transport of valuable resources like hydrogen around the lunar surface and throughout its exosphere, or very thin atmosphere, so we can know where to go to harvest those resources,” said lead study author Orenthal James Tucker.
Tucker and study co-author William M. Farrell of NASA’s Goddard Space Centerbelieve that water is not as rare as the scientific community previously believed.
“We think of water as this special, magical compound,” Farrell said. “But here’s what’s amazing: Every rock has the potential to make water, especially after being irradiated by the solar wind.”
NASA scientists now know for sure that hydrogen and hydroxyls are present on the moon’s surface: NASA’s Deep Impact and Cassini and India’s Chandrayaan-1spacecraft have all found evidence of water. The question that remains is how they form — whether the solar wind is the acting force behind the reaction. The alternative theory is that meteors crashing into the lunar surface cause this type of reaction.
Even if the question of how is answered, there is more research ahead: humans have to figure out how to turn the moon into a source of water to sustain long-term missions.
“We’re trying to learn about the dynamics of transport of valuable resources like hydrogen around the lunar surface and throughout its exosphere, or very thin atmosphere, so we can know where to go to harvest those resources,” Tuckerexplained. A key ramification of the result, Farrell added, is that every exposed body of silica in space has the potential to create hydroxyl, thus become a chemical factory for water.
Scientists have found that hydrogen accumulates in the colder regions: hydrogen atoms closer to the moon’s equator receive too much radiation from the sun to stay localized. The poles seem to be a better place for harvesting hydrogen. Researchers have also hypothesized that the process for making water is not limited to the moon — any particle of exposed silica in space can be used to make water, given a strong blast of solar wind.
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