I don’t know if you have ever considered why the United States wants to return to the moon at all costs. Even if it costs trillions of dollars, the United States must unswervingly promote the moon landing plan .
The reason is that the moon itself is a huge reservoir, and the precious water resources there are simply important strategic materials in the future.
Why is there water on the moon? What significance does this water have for humans? In this issue, Blue Star Knowledge Center will introduce to you the treasures in the shadow of the moon.
01 The reason why there is water on the moon
In the last century, the United States launched the Apollo series of manned lunar landing spacecraft and successfully implemented the moon landing plan. However, the United States' moon landing was mainly to achieve its own political goals. In fact, it was a A loss-making transaction.
However, in recent years, NASA has once again proposed to implement a manned moon landing plan, but this time they went to the moon to seize strategic materials on it in advance, which is a large amount of water that exists in the form of solid ice on the moon's surface.
Many people may not believe that there is water on the moon. After all, it looks extremely desolate and the moon's atmosphere is very thin.
This results in solar radiation hitting the lunar surface without any hindrance, and the amazing heat can evaporate all the water in a very short time.
In fact, this idea is correct. It is indeed difficult to store water on the sunny side of the moon. But there are some special areas on the moon. Unlike the earth, the moon's own tilt angle is only 1.5 degrees, and such a small tilt angle can be almost ignored. In this case, sunlight cannot reach the polar regions of the moon at all.
In addition, there are a large number of amazingly large craters on the moon. There are high bulges on the edges of the craters, which will also hinder the spread of light. The temperature of the areas in the shadow area is mostly minus 170 degrees Celsius. below ℃.
There is even an area affected by various factors, and the temperature can reach minus 250°C. But low temperature does not mean that there must be water. How do scientists determine that there is water above?
There are some mysterious areas on the desolate moon where sunlight will never visit, but there is the possibility of life here.
In fact, as early as 1952, scientists made conjectures by observing craters on the moon, whether solid water might exist in these craters?
In fact, from a theoretical perspective, it is indeed very possible. After all, the water on the sunny side of the moon will volatilize violently. Once the water vapor comes near the permanent shadow area, it will condense due to the violent cooling, thus Form large blocks of ice.
But no matter how rigorous the logic is, the conjecture is just a conjecture. To determine whether there is really water on it, experiments still need to be conducted.
October 9, 2009. NASA launched a lunar crater observation and sensing satellite . When the satellite moved to the periphery of the moon, scientists on the ground maneuvered the launch vehicle into a shadow area on the moon.
Another spacecraft followed closely behind, passing through the aroused smoke cloud and using the instruments it carried to detect it. The end result is that the dust cloud does contain abundant water vapor, which means that there is indeed solid ice in the permanently shadowed area.
Scientists have also put forward various conjectures about how the ice on the moon was formed. Some people believe that the water vapor on it was brought by asteroids and comet and .
They believe that when the solar system was first formed, the violent solar wind carried water molecules to farther places. It was not until the outermost reaches of the solar system that it solidified on some asteroids and satellites due to the drop in temperature.
After that, asteroids and comets moved back into the solar system under the gravity of the sun. When they collided with the moon, the water vapor stayed here. However, many people are skeptical of this conjecture.
Scientists launched a probe and finally determined that there is a lot of ice on the moon. Where did it come from? What does it mean to us?
02 The significance of water on the moon to humans
Some scientists, starting from the formation process of the moon itself, believe that at a certain stage of the moon's development, the volcanic movement was extremely intense, causing the internal water vapor to move out, and eventually reached the permanent shadow area, thus forming ice.
Some people think that it is the hydrogen element in space that enters the moon and reacts with the oxygen here, eventually forming water molecules.
These conjectures actually have merit, but which conjecture is correct cannot be known until sufficient samples are collected from the moon for testing.
As long as we know where the ice on the moon comes from, we can also have a deeper understanding of the origin of life on the earth .
Because the earth and the moon are both rocky planets, the water on the earth and the water on the moon are likely to be formed by the same method.
And because the moon itself is extremely desolate and rarely affected, the ice existing at the poles of the moon is likely to remain in its original state.
And this also makes it easier for scientists to deduce its formation process. It can be said that studying the moon is a key clue to unlocking the mysteries of the earth.
The United States has obviously realized the importance of solving the mystery of life on earth for the development of science and technology, so the United States has proposed the Artemis Project.
They plan to divide the entire moon landing process into several steps, implement them step by step, and finally reveal the secrets in the permanent shadow. And if humans want to establish a base on the moon in the future, these ice bodies will be extremely important strategic materials.
After all, they are numerous and easy to access. After a little processing, they become fresh water resources that can be directly used. This is also an important reason why the United States is eager to return to the moon.
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