L'acqua sulla Luna è dappertutto, non confinata soltanto alle regioni polari o in particolari tipi di terreno come si credeva: lo ha scoperto la nuova analisi dei dati di due missioni lunari condotta dal Goddard Space Flight Center della NASA e pubblicata sulla rivista Nature Geoscience.
Se fosse presente in grandi quantità e abbastanza accessibile, i futuri esploratori potrebbero utilizzarla come acqua da bere o convertirla in idrogeno e ossigeno per i razzi, o ancora in ossigeno respirabile.
I ricercatori, guidati da Joshua Bandfield, dello Space Science Institute di Boulder, in Colorado, si sono basati sui dati raccolti fra il 2008 e il 2009 dalla missione indiana Chandrayaan-1 e dalla missione Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, lanciata dalla NASA nel 2009.
I dati sulla diffusione delle molecole OH e H2O suggeriscono che l'acqua presente sulla Luna possa essere indotta dal vento solare, ossia dagli sciami di particelle cariche scagliati dal Sole che colpisce la superficie lunare, ma non si esclude che possa provenire dall'interno della satellite terrestre, rilasciata lentamente dalle rocce.
Diem/ATS
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