Is the Moon Bone Dry, by Zachary Sharp

When: Wed, Sep 22 2010 5:30pm

Where: UNM SUB

Last year a spacecraft performed a two-part dive into the lunar surface and found detectable levels of water ice. The experiment indicated that water exists diffusely across the moon as molecules clinging to the surface in low concentrations. But a debate rages on the presence of water dozens of kilometers below the surface, in the lunar mantle. The presence or absence of water in the mantle will help to define the moon's geologic history. Our study of rock samples collected during the Apollo missions has concluded the lunar interior is almost bone dry. This finding may also have implications for theories regarding the origins of water on Earth.