Author Topic: Astrobiological Implications of Liquid Water IN The Moon!  (Read 64760 times)

Offline HappyMartian

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Re: Astrobiological Implications of Liquid Water IN The Moon!
« Reply #100 on: 08/02/2013 03:37 pm »

....

Thus, it is possible that an impact could cause the catastrophic release of CO2 and H2O at Ina. The resulting explosion would release pressure on adjacent zones causing a cascading chain reaction that could explain the characteristic humpy morphology of meniscus hollows.



Sounds reasonable to me!

Do you think there would still be minable H2O/CO2 at or near Ina?
"The Moon is the most accessible destination for realizing commercial, exploration and scientific objectives beyond low Earth orbit." - LEAG

Offline HappyMartian

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Re: Astrobiological Implications of Liquid Water IN The Moon!
« Reply #101 on: 08/03/2013 01:17 pm »
Melted Moon   By Paul D. Spudis  July 31, 2013
At: http://blogs.airspacemag.com/moon/2013/07/melted-moon/


What happens when melted Moon rock flows above regolith that covers a frozen H2O/CO/CO2/H2/O2 deposit?

"The Moon is the most accessible destination for realizing commercial, exploration and scientific objectives beyond low Earth orbit." - LEAG

Offline Warren Platts


....

Thus, it is possible that an impact could cause the catastrophic release of CO2 and H2O at Ina. The resulting explosion would release pressure on adjacent zones causing a cascading chain reaction that could explain the characteristic humpy morphology of meniscus hollows.



Sounds reasonable to me!

Do you think there would still be minable H2O/CO2 at or near Ina?

The theory is that once the insulative cover of regolith gets blown off, the "ice-line" where liquid water freezes forming an impenetrable rind or "cap rock" would move down in depth, but would still be reasonably shallow so that liquid H2O (and dissolved CO2) would be a drillable resource.
"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."--Leonardo Da Vinci

Offline Bob Shaw

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Re: Astrobiological Implications of Liquid Water IN The Moon!
« Reply #103 on: 08/05/2013 06:49 pm »
Here's a thought: would fracking work on the Moon? Perhaps a seriously small nuke at the bottom of a deep hole would shake and bake some water vapour out of the interstices of the megaregolith...

Offline Warren Platts

Here's a thought: would fracking work on the Moon? Perhaps a seriously small nuke at the bottom of a deep hole would shake and bake some water vapour out of the interstices of the megaregolith...


They tried that on Planet Earth with Operation Plowshare: the idea was to use nukes to open up tight natural gas formations. It didn't work out so hot: it didn't connect the formations liked they hoped it would, and the gas was too radioactive to use. Also, it's against the rules of the OST to send weapons of mass destruction into space...
"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."--Leonardo Da Vinci

Offline Warren Platts

Did a bit of research on the use of the word "sublunarian". Earliest use I could find was a 1849 book by Herman Melville (Mardi) where it's used as a noun: a "sublunarian" is a "denizen of Earth", after the word sublunar, a very old word that means below the Moon, although that word as come to mean the space between Earth and Moon. Actually, I like it better than "cis-lunar" (which has yet to make all the dictionaries) to describe the same thing. Sublunarian as an adjective analogous to subterranean first appears in the 1873 Quarterly Journal of Science, and Annals of Mining, Metallurgy, Engineering, Industrial Arts, Manufactures, and Technology

Quote
We see the traces of tremendous sublunarian disturbances (using the word "sublunarian," here and elsewhere, to correspond to the word "subterranean" used with reference to the earth), and we find some features of resemblance between the effects of such disturbances and those produced by the subterranean forces of our earth;

The word has occurred very sporadically ever since...
"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."--Leonardo Da Vinci

Offline Warren Platts



http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v6/n9/full/ngeo1909.html

Quote
Here we analyse spectroscopic data from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) and report that the central peak of Bullialdus Crater is significantly enhanced in hydroxyl relative to its surroundings. We suggest that the strong and localized hydroxyl absorption features are inconsistent with a surficial origin. Instead, they are consistent with hydroxyl bound to magmatic minerals that were excavated from depth by the impact that formed Bullialdus Crater. Furthermore, estimates of thorium concentration in the central peak using data from the Lunar Prospector orbiter indicate an enhancement in incompatible elements, in contrast to the compositions of water-bearing lunar samples2. We suggest that the hydroxyl-bearing material was excavated from a magmatic source that is distinct from that of samples analysed thus far.

This is very exciting news.
« Last Edit: 10/07/2013 09:58 pm by Warren Platts »
"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."--Leonardo Da Vinci

Offline HappyMartian

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Re: Astrobiological Implications of Liquid Water IN The Moon!
« Reply #107 on: 08/30/2013 02:28 pm »
Evidence of serpentinization of olivine:

http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v6/n9/full/ngeo1909.html

Quote
Here we analyse spectroscopic data from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) and report that the central peak of Bullialdus Crater is significantly enhanced in hydroxyl relative to its surroundings.
...

This is very exciting news.

Yep, it sure is! Thank you Warren!
"The Moon is the most accessible destination for realizing commercial, exploration and scientific objectives beyond low Earth orbit." - LEAG

Offline Warren Platts

In case anyone's interested, here's a copy of the paper I presented at the GS workshop. My approach was to use the debris halo that surrounds Ina to constrain the energetics of whatever phenomenon produced it. It turns out that a CO2-liquid water system has just about the right energy to make it happen: not too violent, not too mild. I can't think of any other phenomenon that could do it. Maybe you can? ;)
"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."--Leonardo Da Vinci

Offline HappyMartian

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Re: Astrobiological Implications of Liquid Water IN The Moon!
« Reply #109 on: 10/08/2013 02:48 pm »
In case anyone's interested, here's a copy of the paper I presented at the GS workshop. My approach was to use the debris halo that surrounds Ina to constrain the energetics of whatever phenomenon produced it. It turns out that a CO2-liquid water system has just about the right energy to make it happen: not too violent, not too mild. I can't think of any other phenomenon that could do it. Maybe you can? ;)


A very interesting paper Mr. Warren Platts! Congratulations on your presentation and thank you for offering it here!

What are your thoughts about prepositioning a robotic drill capable of going 12 to 30 meters deep at Ina as the first step for a followup NASA surface mission using the SLS, Orion, and Golden Spike Lander?

Would there be a significant risk of initiating a cryovolcanism blowout or a blast event from drilling or landing the robotic drill and then the Golden Spike Lander on Ina?

Keep up the great work!



Edited.

« Last Edit: 10/23/2013 11:08 am by HappyMartian »
"The Moon is the most accessible destination for realizing commercial, exploration and scientific objectives beyond low Earth orbit." - LEAG

Offline Warren Platts

Earth has a secret reservoir of water, say scientists

Interesting article. Apparently, Earth's mantle contains much more water than previously thought. Since the Moon is derived from the Earth's mantle, this implies that there should be more "juvenile" water deep within the Moon as well!
"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."--Leonardo Da Vinci

Offline Robert Thompson

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Re: Astrobiological Implications of Liquid Water IN The Moon!
« Reply #111 on: 03/18/2014 12:04 pm »
(Post #75 may have an unclosed [ i ].)

Regarding additional water in the moon, that's plausible.
« Last Edit: 03/19/2014 02:59 am by Hernalt »

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