THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
70 Falmouth Street Portland, Maine 04103
(207) 780-4249 usm.maine.edu/planet
43.6667° N 70.2667° W
Founded January 1970 2022-2023: LXXVII
Sunrise: 6:30 a.m.
Sunset: 7:03 p.m.
Civil twilight begins: 6:01 a.m.
Civil twilight ends: 7:32 p.m.
Sun's host constellation: Pisces
Moon phase: Waxing crescent (46% illuminated)
Moonrise: 10:27 a.m.
Moonset: 3:02 a.m. (3/29/2023)
Julian date: 2460032.29
“Does it disturb anyone else that ‘The Los Angeles Angels baseball team translates directly to ‘The The Angels Angels’?”
—Neil DeGrasse Tyson
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Moon Water
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Happy 3rd Anniversary, my dearest Susan.
I marvel at your forbearance.
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Eventually, or at least presumably, humans will return to and perhaps even settle onto the moon, our nearest celestial neighbor. Our last emissaries, Harrison Schmidt and Eugene Cernan, left in 1972, more than half a century ago. Ever since these initial wanderings on the lunar surface ended, we've looked rather forlornly at Phoebe's orb and harbored the hope that others would follow. Now that the Artemis program is in full throttle, it seems that the arrival of the next wave of lunar explorers is not only inevitable, but imminent. According to NASA, Artemis could plant a female astronaut on the moon as early as 2025. These astronauts might well pave the way for lunar colonists, those who would not only visit the moon, but establish a base there.
We know that constructing and maintaining such a colony will prove considerably more problematic than deploying day trippers. These colonists will literally need to bring all their resources with them on the journey. Unlike even the most misanthropic Earth-bound explorer who seeks to put down roots in the remotest reaches of our planet, these lunar surface inhabitants won't have access to air or even bodies of water. The utter lack of what we could consider these natural amenities makes some skeptics doubt whether humans will ever live on the moon.
Then again...
Analysis of the 1,731 grams of lunar regolith delivered to Earth by China's Chang'e 5 probe has revealed the presence of glass beads that could contain considerable quantities of water. Calculations suggest that as much as 600 trillion pounds of water could be trapped within these beads embedded within the upper forty feet of lunar topsoil. Scientists believe that water has formed on the moon over billions of years as hydrogen within the solar wind mixes with oxygen contained within the regolith. This water evaporates during the 200 degree F hot day and then returns to the soil in the -200 degree F night. It is likely that these glass beads could serve as a resource not only for water, but also perhaps for rocket fuel and perhaps even molecular oxygen, something else that astronauts will either have to bring from Earth or generate on the moon.
Not even the most optimistic scientist suggests that traveling to the moon, let alone living there, is an easy task. Such a migration could daunt even the most intrepid. However, the presence of these water-laden beads on the moon might render this audacious enterprise slightly less difficult than we once thought.
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