Undoubtedly, one of the biggest space news stories of 2009 was the double news story of finding water on the Moon. First, in September, scientists from three different space missions announced they had detected widespread water across the surface of the Moon. Then in November, the LCROSS science team held a press briefing to announce they had detected “buckets” of water inside the crater the LCROSS impactor created inside Cabeus Crater on the lunar south pole. On the January 2 edition of 365 Days of Astronomy, I discuss the the findings and include audio clips from the press conference and soundbites from the scientists. Check it out, and I hope you enjoy it!
Also, in case you haven’t heard, the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast is continuing in 2010, and we are still looking for podcasters throughout the year. So far, over 200 days have been spoken for, but that still leaves about 165 other days to schedule. To find out more, visit the 365 Days of Astronomy website, or listen to me discuss the podcast on the January edition of The Jodcast, the podcast put out by the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics.
I’m curious, how would we best harvest the diffuse water formed daily on the moon? You could have like a few acre wide field with a cat box like scraper that scoops up the top inch or two for heating and extraction. Would the soil get ‘used up’ or can it be sprinkled back out? 😉
Lunar Zamboni of course!