In October of this year, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) will launch the Luna Trailblazer mission to explore the possible different water deposits on the Moon.
The mission will study the shape, distribution, abundance and origin of the water present on the Earth's satellite. From these data, it will be possible to better understand the water in the Earth-Moon system, which is essential for future space exploration.
Why the study of water on the Moon is so important
Carried out between 2008 and 2010, the discovery that there is water on the Moon rekindled interest in studying the satellite for many years. In fact, this year we have followed different countries in full "lunar race". The Indian Chandrayaan-3 mission achieved a successful lunar landing. India has just made history by becoming the fourth country to land on the moon and the first to access the South Pole of our satellite.
Other countries, such as the United States and China, also have missions planned. And they all have one main objective in common: to study the forms of water on the Moon. In the long term, the results of these studies could allow human presence on the satellite and the creation of space bases to study new missions to other parts of the universe.
What types of water may exist on the Moon
In the research that established the presence of water on the Moon, infrared spectrometers found OH/H2O on the Sunlit face of the Moon. But the LCROSS impactor was able to demonstrate the presence of water ice in shaded regions of the Moon that have not yet been explored.
According to the Trailblazer team's research, sources of water to be analyzed may include:
- External water: which reached the Moon via asteroids and comets.
- Inner mantle water: present since the satellite's formation and released by natural geological processes in the lunar subsurface.
- In situ: water created on the surface from the Moon's interactions with solar wind plasma.
In the graphic above, NASA has plotted the possible stages of a water cycle on the Moon.
How Trailblazer will analyze water on the Moon
The Trailblazer mission will detect and map lunar surface water by installing advanced infrared sensors in the Moon's orbit. From them, it will be possible to determine the shape, abundance and distribution of water as a function of soil maturity, lithology (specialized study of rocks and their layers) and latitude.
By understanding the origin of the different types of water on the Moon, it will be possible to study ways to capture, store and reuse this water in the future, as is done on Earth.
Understanding the thermophysical properties of the lunar surface could guide researchers to future lunar landing sites and help study the thermal evolution of the Moon.
The Trailblazer mission will study both the water present in the Moon's illuminated regions and attempt to determine the existence of ice in the shaded regions. To understand the role of these deposits in the lunar water cycle, it will be essential to analyze the amount of ice present, its purity, the geologic and topographic context, and other data.
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