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"Lots of it" seems like a bit of an exaggeration. This particular site, a large crater close to the South Pole which manages to avoid direct sunlight, has 5.6%
by hugh3 16y ago
"Lots of it" seems like a bit of an exaggeration. This particular site, a large crater close to the South Pole which manages to avoid direct sunlight, has 5.6% water by mass, but what does that come down to in Earth terms? A small lake? I suppose it depends how deep the water goes.
- InclinedPlane 16y agoThings you can do with a small lake on the Moon: * Create Oxygen and potable water for life support system, saving having to ship that from Earth. * Build greenhouses with artificial lighting to grow in situ foods, saving having to ship that from Earth and vastly increasing the self-reliance of a Moon base. * Create a rocket propellant factory (LH2 and LOX are a quite useful and indeed common propellant for exo-atmospheric spaceflight). This means that after you set up the initial moon base and infrastructure later missions can skip sending as much water, Oxygen, and food. And, much more importantly, don't have to send a fully fueled return vehicle. Given the exponential nature of the rocket equation, this is huge.
- hugh3 16y agoEntirely true, and it's great news. But we have to be careful -- there's a pretty limited supply of this stuff, and we don't want to waste it.