Water, water everywhere, even on the moon

摘要

New evidence shows water was present on the moon while it was forming. Traces of water have been found within the crystalline structure of mineral samples taken from the lunar highland upper crust. These samples were during the Apollo missions, according to a University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) news release. During the past 5 years, research supporting the historical presence of water on the moon has been accumulating. Previous research identified hydroxyl ions, which contain one atom of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen, on the moon. For the current study, researchers . detected about 6 ppm of water, in the form of hydroxyl groups, in grains of the samples of highland rock, the news release says.