NASA | LRO Observes the LCROSS Impact

NASA scientists have revealed the lunar soil inside shadowy craters is rich in useful materials, that the moon is chemically active, and that it also has a water cycle. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, by observing the impact of the LCROSS spacecraft, helped contribute to these new findings.


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[mscir]

Isn't it sublimation, not evaporation?

1. to cause to change directly from a solid to a gas, or from a gas to a solid, without becoming a liquid:

from yourdictionary

[lilsorms]

@obaeyens 1/6th of Earth's gravity doesn't seem too small for water vapor to fall back down on the Moon, though I could be wrong. But you could be on to something with the solar wind. The fact that the moon has no atmosphere, could allow any water vapor to be blown off into space... but that makes me wonder then were does it go?

[lilsorms]

@dansmith57 Ya, that's what I was thinking. So it would evaporate and float away, unaffected by the Moon's gravity? Or would it breakdown into simpler elements when evaporated?

[lilsorms]

So with the finding of over 40 gallons of water on the moon does that mean if sunlight were to reach these areas, then the moon would see water vapor and in turn rain?

What effects would this have on possible moon based observatories and telescopes?

[lilsorms]

@julsHz I wonder what the velocity of evaporation is. I doubt it could be greater than the escape velocity on the Moon, of 2.38 km/s. How could water move that fast just from heat gained from the Sun? That's quite some velocity! I would have to then conclude that it would rain on the Moon. It may not be rain like we are used to, because the Moon has no atmosphere. But it could just be water vapor hanging around on the Moon until it reaches a cold spot where it can condense back into ice.

[lilsorms]

@Mrcharliebobo Down the rabbit hole it goes!

[AufBerghofNAM]

the thought process: "shit, guys - people are getting interested in the moon. how do we remind them that we are the pioneers of this enchilada?" A: "Find out where the most rarest shit might be, and crash some cheap crap into it. call it science. and bob's your uncle!"

[dansmith]

@lilsorms202 it wouldn't turn to rain as the MOON HAS NO ATMOSPHERE, if the sun where to shine on it would evaporate into

[oscarlithgow]

Sory to say this but... the LCROSS sucked !!!
Complete waste of money and time....