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Unambiguous Evidence of Water On the Moon

Nethemas the Great writes "Information has leaked ahead of the scheduled NASA press conference tomorrow that we have found unambiguous evidence for water on the moon. From the article, 'Since man first touched the moon and brought pieces of it back to Earth, scientists have thought that the lunar surface was bone dry. But new observations from three different spacecraft have put this notion to rest with what has been called "unambiguous evidence" of water across the surface of the moon.'"

11 of 251 comments (clear)

  1. great news by SkyMunky · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'll be thirsty after the long ride.

  2. Not enough by MichaelSmith · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The water these missions have found is present in very small quantities. Extracting it would require a lot of energy. The hope with polar water is that there might be masses of the stuff in some craters so that you could at least get a kilo of water from 20 or so kilos of regolith. Water in those quantities would be of use to humans. But we haven't seen it yet.

    1. Re:Not enough by TubeSteak · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The water these missions have found is present in very small quantities. Extracting it would require a lot of energy.

      Unlimited energy is available on the moon.
      You can run a stirling engine indefinitely based on the temperature differential between sunlight/radioisotopes and shade.
      Alternatively, you could go solar.
      Weight is your only real limit.

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      o0t!
    2. Re:Not enough by LordKronos · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, but good luck running your solar powered lunar water extraction system on a cloudy day.

  3. No surprise by ctrl-alt-canc · · Score: 5, Funny

    Since Apollo expedition brought back petrified wood from the moon, water was abundant there many years ago.

  4. Re:Humanity to the Moon by Mr.+Roadkill · · Score: 5, Funny

    I hope that the Indians are able to establish a lunar colony; they certainly have the expertise.

    The casinos might take off, that's a business that will attract customers no matter where you build one. If they've gone and bought Rotary Rocket's intellectual property, the ATV is certainly the right shape too. But there are precious few bison up there...

  5. Coming soon: by fauxhammer · · Score: 5, Funny

    Whalers on the moon!

  6. Re:BREAKING NEWS! by venicebeach · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Clearly not common enough to assume that it was present in this particular location without direct evidence.

  7. It was the Indians who helped NASA find water by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    "India's first lunar mission has found evidence of large quantities of water on its surface, The Times newspaper reported on Thursday."

    from http://www.hindustantimes.com/Is-there-water-on-moon-NASA-to-reveal/H1-Article1-457426.aspx

    1. Re:It was the Indians who helped NASA find water by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Mod parent up please

      Original article is here:

      http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/space/article6846639.ece

    2. Re:It was the Indians who helped NASA find water by TheRaven64 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The subject of the grandparent's post (which, by the way, you copied in yours) was 'It was the Indians who helped NASA find water.' Note the word 'helped.' Note that he explicitly credited 'NASA' (which, for those watching at home, is American). When the grandparent gives credit to both of the nations involved and draws attention to the fact that it was a collaborative venture, cries of nationalism are a little hollow.

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