Now that we've found water on the Moon, what are we going do to with it?

Answer 1

So... just exactly when did we find water on the moon??

Answer 2

Hi,

We've not found water on the moon. The only planet apart from Earth, is Mars.

In the question ' what are we going to do with it', we could send a crew there and build homes, offices and labs that could use the water (after being filtered) to drink, cook, feed plants and for hygiene.

Don't get me wrong, we have the ability to do this now. But, I think that government's around the world have a fear that the might just find some thing that the can't cover up and would prove that they have been laying all the time about other life forms in the universe.

Answer 3

Water may exist on the Moon but they do not know yet for sure. The water here on Earth came to our primeval planet by the millions of comets that crashed into the Earth billions of years ago when the Earth was being formed and the solar system was young. The gravity of the Earth and the atmospeer made it posible for the water to remain on the planet. Comets that hit the Moon deposited water there as well but in the billions of years that have gone by the weaker gravity of the Moon and lack of atmospheer has caused all of the water to burn off and escape into space. The Moon was not suitable to "retain" water.

It is thought that there are areas near the poles of the Moon that never get direct sunlight and that deep in these sunshaded craters water may still exist near the surface.

The United States is making plans for the second phase of exploration of the Moon with the goal of establishing a base there much like countries of the world maintain scientific bases in Antartica. The lunar north and especially the south poles are a likely spot for such a base because if water does in fact exist there it would be of great value to a human presence on the Moon both for drinking water for the astronauts, for growing food, and the production of rocket fuel. Water can be broken down in a simple process into Hydrogen and Oxygen. Oxygen can be breated by the astronauts and Hydrogen and Oxygen can be used as a power source in a fuel cel or for rocket fuel in liquified form

Answer 4

There should be significante quantities of water on the moon. But it would have to be mined like we mine coal on earth.
It can be used for any number of things. For drinking is one. For getting oxygen for breating aswell. You split it into hydrogen and oxygen and then you use the hydrogen to extract more oxygen from the oxide rich soil. You get water and metal. You can also use the hydrogen to make lampblack out of the CO2 the astronauts exhale. The lampblack is pure carbon that you can use to get even purer metals for construction and expanding the settlement. For steel production some carbon will be consumed however. And carbon is as precious as the hydrogen in the water. No carbon no in situ food production. No in situ food production no prospects of humans living on the moon for any longer periods of time.

I don´t think it is necessary to use all the water to make rocket fuel. On the moon it is quite possible to build a maglev track long enough to send payloads into orbit and back to earth using only electricity and some fuel for orbital corrections. Landing on the moon will always require fuel however.

Answer 5

Wow, you are really interested in the moon... Anyhow the water thats suspected to be on the moon will most likely be used by the moon base NASA wants to make and colonies of one kind or another,...

Answer 6

If there really are large quantities of water on the moon, then that is a good place to build a colony (no need to bring heavy drinking water from Earth), and it can be used to make rocket fuel to refuel spacecraft.

Answer 7

The water found by Clemintine satellite appears to be frozen in the shadow's of crater's att the poles (if I'm not mistaken).

so I guess, the water purifying companies will want first dibbs at it....."Lunar Mountain Water" fresh from the lunar valleys.

That makes it possible to set up an oxygen manufacturing plant on the moon also.

Answer 8

Most likely, they will bottle it and sell it. There slogan would be "It's Moontastic" or It's bottled from the moon to you" or It's Moon Water, there is nothing better than water from above!!!"

Answer 9

Moon colonists will drink it and cook with it (purified), and they will electrolyze it into hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel -- probably using solar cells for energy to do the electrolyzing and purifying.

This way the colonists won't have to carry so much fuel and water with them from the earth, they can get it on the moon.

Answer 10

There is strong evidence that there is water on the moon; but we still dont know for sure that its true.