Saturday, September 26, 2009

Real science: "Water on moon" papers

The announcement from NASA, later confirmed by ISRO, has 4 relevant papers, all published on 24 September 2009 online in Science magazine, outlining the find. Only abstracts are available without payment.

  1. "Character and Spatial Distribution of OH/H2O on the Surface of the Moon Seen by M3 on Chandrayaan-1" by C. M. Pieters, J. N. Goswami, R. N. Clark, M. Annadurai, J. Boardman, B. Buratti, J.-P. Combe, M. D. Dyar, R. Green, J. W. Head, C. Hibbitts, M. Hicks, P. Isaacson, R. Klima, G. Kramer, S. Kumar, E. Livo, S. Lundeen, E. Malaret, T. McCord, J. Mustard, J. Nettles, N. Petro, C. Runyon, M. Staid, J. Sunshine, L. A. Taylor, S. Tompkins, and P. Varanasi. Abstract. Water signature "appears strongest at cooler high latitudes and at several fresh feldspathic craters. ...suggests that the formation and retention of OH and H2O is an ongoing surficial process."
  2. "Detection of Adsorbed Water and Hydroxyl on the Moon" by Roger N. Clark. Abstract. "The amounts of water ... could be 10 to 1,000 parts per million and locally higher."
  3. "Temporal and Spatial Variability of Lunar Hydration as Observed by the Deep Impact Spacecraft" by Jessica M. Sunshine, Tony L. Farnham, Lori M. Feaga, Olivier Groussin, Frederic Merlin, Ralph E. Milliken, and Michael F. A'Hearn. Abstract. "Deep Impact spacecraft found the entire surface to be hydrated during some portions of the day. ... strongest near the North Pole ... Hydration varied with temperature, rather than cumulative solar radiation ... comparisons between data collected one week (a quarter lunar day) apart show a dynamic process with diurnal changes in hydration that were greater for mare basalts (~70%) than for highlands (~50%). This hydration loss and return to steady state occurred entirely between local morning and evening, requiring a ready daytime source of water group ions, which is consistent with a solar wind origin."
  4. "A Lunar Waterworld" by Paul G Lucey. Abstract.
I'm, sort of, disappointed. Must pay Science to access taxpayer-funded research!

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