A group of researchers "lunar mineralogical mapper M3 discovered molecule water and hydroxyl groups on different parts of the sunlit lunar surface, but more clearly the presence of water was detected at higher latitudes of the Moon. Suspicions regarding the water molecules and hydroxyl groups emerged in the past, when analyzed data obtained during Cassini's flight of the aircraft near the moon at low altitude in 1999, but the data still not been published. Signs of water more strongly manifested in the cold high latitudes, closer to the poles. The blue arrow points to the crater Goldschmidt, a vast area, rich in feldspar and evidence for the presence of water and hydroxyl groups. Authors Image: isro (Indian Office for Space Research) / nasa / JPL-Caltech (Jet Propulsion Laboratory – California Institute of Technology) / Brown Univ.
'Data obtained using a spectrometer vims (Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer – allow mapping spectrometer operating in the visible and infrared spectral regions) of the aircraft Cassini (Cassini) and M3 are in good agreement ', – said Roger Clark (Roger Clark), a scientist from the Department of Geological Survey in Denver, usa, and a member of both vims research groups and M3. 'We see the presence and the water and hydroxyl groups. While their number is not known exactly, presumably, in the lunar soil may be present about 1.000 ppm (ppm) of water molecules. This comparable with the fact that if you collect one ton of the top layer of the lunar surface, you could get out of it 32 ounces of water. " To further confirm the data the researchers turned to the mission Epoxy (Epoxi), at a time when aircraft flew past the Moon in June 2009 on the way to the comet Hartley 2 (Hartley 2), a meeting which is scheduled for November 2010.
Spacecraft not only confirmed the data obtained by vims and M3, and even expand them. 'With before the results of measurements in a wide spectral range, and photography, made over the north pole, we were able to determine the distribution of water and hydroxyl groups as a function of temperature, latitude and time of the day '- said Jessica Sunshine (Jessica Sunshine) at the University of Maryland. Mrs Sunshine is deputy principal investigator of the study group of the spacecraft Epoxy (Epoxi) and scientists research group M3. "Our analysis clearly confirms the presence of these molecules on the lunar surface and shows that, apparently, the surface is completely exposed to hydration for at least some segment of the lunar night. " The discovery of water molecules and hydroxyl groups on the moon raises some new questions about the origin of 'Moon Water' and its impact on the lunar mineralogy. Answers to these questions will be the subject study and debate for many years. Translator: Elena (Translation 'Gulf Stream')