Mysteries about Moon

The Unsolved Mysteries About Moon

Moon is the heavenly body to which dozens of spacecraft, both manned and unmanned, have been launched. Many of them have explored the Moon successfully. Men have walked on the Moon and brought soil and rock samples from there.

Then, why new spacecraft like Chandrayaan-1 were launched towards the Moon?

Of course, there are valid reasons for launching spacecraft towards Moon even today. It is true that earlier spacecraft have provided valuable information about the Moon in large amounts.

But still, there are many exciting things associated with the Moon about which we do not know for sure. The questions that confront humanity in this regard include:

  • Is it true that Moon came into existence as a result of a gigantic collision of a large Mars sized body with the Earth?
  • Once formed, how did the Moon gradually change over a period of time?
  • Was there any magnetic field associated with the Moon for sure? If so,
  • What happened to the lunar magnetic field?
  • In what quantities different kind of minerals are present on the Moon and where?
  • What about the presence of Helium-3 on the Moon, which scientists think as a clean and efficient fuel for the future nuclear fusion reactors?
  • Exactly, what kind of dangerous radiations surround the Moon and how strong are they?

Chandrayaan-1 gathered information to find answer to some of these questions.

  

Along with the questions concerning the origin, evolution, mineral and fuel resources of the Moon, till recently, one more question — is there water on the moon for sure — haunted scientists. It is a matter of pride for Indians that Chandrayaan-1 answered that important question by clearly discovering water molecules on the lunar surface.

By carefully studying the information sent by Moon Mineralogy Mapper - one of the eleven scientific instruments carried by Chandrayaan-1, scientists came to the conclusion that water (H2O) and Hydroxyl (OH) molecules are mixed up with the top layer of the lunar soil. And, these molecules were found in extremely small quantities.

Yes, water molecules have been found on the Moon for sure, but, they do not exist in lakes, rivers, seas or oceans! Nevertheless, the fact that scientists conclusively found water on the Moon has far reaching implications.

In the above image, Blue color in the moon's polar areas indicates accumulation of more water molecules there.

As if this was not sufficient, another instrument on Chandrayaan-1 - Mini Synthetic Aperture Radar (MiniSAR) — discovered water ice on the Moon. This ice was found in the deep craters of the Moon's North Polar Region that are in permanent shadow. Scientists have found ice in as many as 40 lunar craters. It is estimated that about 600 million metric tons of water might be locked up in those ice sheets.

Scientists had long suspected the presence of water ice on the Moon. But there were doubts. Chandrayaan-1 cleared that doubt also!

Picture showing the ‘strips' of moon's North polar area having craters with ice (shown in green circles)

    

The discovery of water molecules on the Moon and the ice sheets in the lunar polar areas has naturally excited scientists all over the world. And, people who want to establish scientific bases and colonies on the Moon are naturally jumping with joy.