NASA Finds More Water on the Moon
According to recent NASA discoveries there is more water on the moon than expected.
A rocket probe crashed into a shadowy moon crater near the southern pole last year. It dug a hole about the size of a football field into the crater. The dust that shot up was observed by NASA scientists for more than a year. They amazingly found ice crystals, as well as other elements like carbon monoxide, sulphur, silver and mercury.
Up to now NASA has not known much about the material craters are made up of because they were not examined during the 1970s when Apollo astronauts landed on the lunar surface. Today they think that areas near the poles of the moon are much different than the places where the Apollo spacecraft landed.
The findings show that the water and the oxygen found in the dust could maintain a manned base on the moon’s surface. Otherwise NASA would have to bring water to the moon, a much more expensive task. The hydrogen in the water could be used to make fuel for further manned missions to other planets.
The Obama government however has said that America’s real aim is getting men to Mars. Other countries, like India and China, have said that they want to put a man on the lunar surface by 2025.
Related Topics
- The Moon
- China Lands Spacecraft on the Moon
- Did the Earth Form the Moon's Surface ?
- Mission Apollo - Landing on the Moon
- Mars One - A Human Colony on the Red Planet
- The Space Race
Words
- according to = as said or reported by
- aim = goal, intention
- amazing = surprising, wonderful
- carbon monoxide = a gas that is produced when you burn carbon in the air
- dig – dug = cut into
- discovery = something that someone finds out which nobody knew before
- dust = dry powder made up of small bits of dirt
- examine = look at carefully
- finding = discovery
- fuel = substance that you can burn and use as energy or heat
- further = more , extra
- hydrogen = the lightest of all gases; it is colorless and forms water when mixed with oxygen
- lunar surface = the top layer of the moon
- maintain = keep up
- manned mission = trip to another planet with people in a spacecraft
- mercury = a heavy silvery element that is in thermometers
- otherwise = if not
- oxygen = a gas that has no color and is necessary for us to breathe
- probe = a spaceship without people in it; used to find out things about other planets
- recent = the newest
- scientist = a person who is trained in science and works in a laboratory
- shadowy = without sunlight, dark
- shoot up = come up very quickly
- spacecraft = spaceship
- sulphur = a light yellow substance that burns and smells very bad
- task = job , mission