Chinese scientists had said that a significant part of the water found in the samples brought from the moon must have come from the interior of the moon. Chinese scientists had brought samples from the Moon under China’s Moon Mission, which they brought to Earth and tested.
Studies have been done from time to time regarding the presence of water on the Moon. It has been claimed in many studies that there is availability of water on the moon. US space agency NASA (NASA) had also announced the presence of water on the moon in the year 2020 itself. Now NASA has released a map regarding the distribution of water on the Moon. In this, NASA told that where and where there is a possibility of getting water on the moon. NASA is considering this as a major achievement for its upcoming Moon mission.
Actually, using NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), space scientists have prepared this map. Through this map, an attempt has been made to tell how the water is moving on the surface of the Moon. This map was presented at the 2023 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.
focus on south pole
This map has been specially prepared by NASA focusing on the Moon’s South Pole i.e. the South Pole. South Pole is a very important place for space scientists from the point of view of research. Since this map covers the area of the south pole of the Moon, it means that it shows the surface of the Moon towards the Earth. NASA has said that this map will prove to be very useful for the upcoming Artemis mission.
Check out the tweet here:
In 2020, we announced the confirmation of H2O on the Moon, but we had remaining questions how does the water behave? How can we access it? A new map of water distribution on the Moon provides hints about how water may be moving across the Moon’s surface. https://t.co/dJQpwUZ7Ah pic.twitter.com/TVpjlz7GOj
— NASA Moon (@NASAMoon) March 15, 2023
See the difference of day and night
At the 2023 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Bill Reich, director of the SOFIA Science Center and lead author of the latest study, said about the released map that craters can be seen in this map, mountains can be seen. The difference between day and night is also visible in the map, which is possible only because of the high concentration of water present there.
He said that how useful this map is, it will be known when NASA’s Volatile Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) will land on the Moon in the year 2024. It was told that this rover will land on the Moon in the same area, which has been observed by SOFIA.
Where would the water have come from?
In many studies done in the past, claims have been made regarding the presence of water on the moon. NASA has told in its tweet that it had announced the presence of water on the moon in 2020 itself. At the same time, in a research study published in the International Journal ‘Nature Communications’ last year, Chinese scientists also claimed about the source of water.
Chinese scientists had said that a significant part of the water found in the samples brought from the moon must have come from the interior of the moon. Chinese scientists had brought samples from the Moon under China’s Moon Mission, which they brought to Earth and tested.
Watch video: NASA released map
Let us tell you that NASA is very serious about its upcoming mission related to the Moon. It plans to launch the Artemis 3 mission before the year 2025, under which humans will be sent to the moon. For this, NASA has also identified some areas on the Moon’s South Pole, where the mission will be landed.
