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AEROSPACE
NASA MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER, HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA
Cryogenic trapped water is just under the surface of lunar soil
at the Moon’s poles. Microwave energy can be used to efficiently
extract this water from permafrost. COMSOL permits calculation
of the extraction process.
“Water and other
compounds found on
the Moon represent
potential resources that
could sustain future
lunar exploration.”
BY CATHLEEN LAMBERTSON
In 1999, NASA’s Lunar Prospector revealed
concentrated hydrogen signatures
detected in permanently shadowed
craters at the lunar poles. While scientists
have long speculated about the source of
vast quantities of hydrogen at the poles,
recent discoveries made by NASA’s Lunar
CRater Observing and Sensing Satellite
(LCROSS) are shedding new light on the
question of water on the Moon. Preliminary
data from LCROSS indicates that
the mission successfully uncovered water
during the Oct. 9, 2009 impacts into the
permanently shadowed region of Cabeus
crater near the Moon’s south pole. These
findings could have far-reaching implications
as space exploration is being expanded
past low-Earth orbit.
The Importance of Moon Water
Water and other compounds found on
the Moon represent potential resources
that could sustain future lunar exploration.
According to Dr. Edwin Ethridge,
a Materials Scientist in the Materials &
Processes Laboratory at NASA Marshall
Space Flight Center (Huntsville, AL), insitu
resources are very important since
they do not have to be launched out of
Earth’s gravitational well. “It is very
expensive to get mass into space. The
weight of a payload that goes into space
is only a very small fraction of the total
rocket weight on the launch pad,” he said.
For example, it costs around $50,000 per
pound to launch anything to the Moon.
The cost of getting the payload into orbit
Figure 1. Labeled composite image of the South Pole taken by New Mexico State University/Marshall
Space Flight Center, using the Tortugas 24" telescope. (Credit: NMSU/MSFC)
// COMSOL NEWS 2010
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