# Water on the Moon! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 3, 2010, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-on-the-moon/531071 "2010-03-03T01:33:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bayesian\_Empirimancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@Bayesian\_Empirimancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayesian_Empirimancer)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-on-the-moon/531071/1 "2010-03-03T01:33:10Z")
NASA finds [millions of tons of water on the Moon](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/03/02/2010-03-02_millions_of_tons_of_water_ice_discovered_on_moons_north_pole_nasa_says.html)! If I am interpreting this correctly, I would be very surprised! Okay, really, ramifications? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-on-the-moon/531071/2 "2010-03-03T01:35:48Z")
Why would you be surprised? There have been indications of this for a long time now. As for the implications, I’d say that when someone gets the will to go to the moon, it will make it a lot easier to create a permanent base or research facility if they don’t have to cart in water, or create it from the local materials (which would be energy intensive). -XT ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-on-the-moon/531071/3 "2010-03-03T04:26:38Z")
That 600 million (metric) tons amounts to just 0.6 cubic kilometers. Crater lake in Oregon holds 7.5 times as much water. ---
**Author:** ![Ionizer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Ionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ionizer)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-on-the-moon/531071/4 "2010-03-03T04:26:55Z")
Its gonna take some serious tech to get into those craters where the ice/water is located. They are amongst the coldest places in Solar System/Universe and most materials we use experience issues when nearing ‘absolute zero’. Most folks learning of this ‘finding’ do not realize this non-trivial aspect or the hurdles of getting the water from the brutally-cold holes. IMHO, the greatest part of _knowing_ there is ample ‘water’ is that water is easily made into ‘rocket fuel’ (hydrogen and oxygen work nicely for propulsion/energy.) Carrying 100% of round-trip fuel from Earth’s surface is a MAJOR limitation of any/all missions, so the ability to “fill 'er up” from a local depot for the ride home or to go elsewhere (like Mars!) allows a much more robust cargo/craft/crew. Of course there are other fuels used at times, but H2O in a shallow gravity-well can certainly fill many, many needs (other than fuel, that is). Hope I made sense 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-on-the-moon/531071/5 "2010-03-03T05:57:41Z")
With enough water, it may be relatively easy to build habitats on the moon. If you could find an uncollapsed lava tube and seal the ends, and fill it with a few million gallons of water, you could eventually build a self-sustaining colony of hundreds to thousands of people. Or, with solar energy and lunar soil we might be able to make a type [Fiberglass-skinned aerogel](http://spacescience.spaceref.com/newhome/headlines/msad28apr98_1a.htm) habitat. I don’t see getting that big a problem. You just have to use heaters. A nuclear-powered digger that extracts water ice and hauls it in bricks back to the sunny inhabited regions doesn’t sound impossible. You just have to heat everything, like we do with rovers on Mars and deep space probes. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-on-the-moon/531071/6 "2010-03-03T13:20:58Z")
Every passing year just verifies the claims of George Adamski- I expect an announcement about the Venusian Nordic civilization and the Great Council of Saturn any day now. ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-on-the-moon/531071/7 "2010-03-03T15:02:51Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Every passing year just verifies the claims of George Adamski- I expect an announcement about the Venusian Nordic civilization and the Great Council of Saturn any day now. Yep. And don’t forget: Controlled fusion is only a few years away! Until we can find a cheaper more efficient way to escape Earth’s gravity well mankind won’t be going anywhere soon. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-on-the-moon/531071/8 "2010-03-03T15:06:04Z")
How much water is in how much “soil”? If a couple cubic feet gets me a gallon thats great. If I have to process a cubic mile to get it not so much. ---
**Author:** ![panman\_1960](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/919ad9/32.png) [@panman\_1960](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panman_1960)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-on-the-moon/531071/9 "2010-03-03T15:17:39Z")
> [@gravitycrash](#): > > Yep. And don’t forget: Controlled fusion is only a few years away! And don’t forget the Helium 3 that the Moon has! That’s the REAL goal to establishing operations on the moon. A proof of concept Helium 3 reactor has been accomplished, and according to projection, ONE load the size of the shuttle payload would power the USA for IIRC a few years! (and I know they won’t use the shuttle, it’s just a size example). China and India are very interested in mining the moon for Helium 3 since it is so rare on Earth. later, Tom. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-on-the-moon/531071/10 "2010-03-03T15:51:40Z")
> [@panman\_1960](#): > > A proof of concept Helium 3 reactor has been accomplished,… Cite? Stranger ---
**Author:** ![panman\_1960](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/919ad9/32.png) [@panman\_1960](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panman_1960)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-on-the-moon/531071/11 "2010-03-03T16:35:02Z")
It’s MPSIMS! But here ya go… [Race to the Moon for Nuclear Fuel | WIRED](http://www.wired.com/science/space/news/2006/12/72276) I haven’t done thorough investigation whether it was disputed, but… It’s MPSIMS! later, Tom. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-on-the-moon/531071/12 "2010-03-03T18:06:13Z")
> [@panman\_1960](#): > > I haven’t done thorough investigation whether it was disputed, but… It’s MPSIMS Which just means you can sling random unsubstantiated claims with abandon? From the cite: _…futuristic power plants that have been demonstrated in proof-of-concept but are likely decades away from commercial deployment._ So, someone drew an “artist’s rendering” or put it as a bullet on PowerPoint chart somewhere. Meanwhile, the most credible optimistic estimate for the D-T fusion cycle (which is two orders of magnitude easier to achieve than D-[sup]3[/sup]He by the Lawson criterion) is thirty years. Regardless, it will probably be a lot easier to accumulate [sup]3[/sup]He from the solar wind or just produce it artificially (as the end product of tritium decay) than sift it from the lunar regolith. There is no real end goal to establishing an outpost on the Moon other than the prestige of doing so. The scientific and technical merit of doing so is minimal. As for water, it would actually be more surprising not to find it somewhere on the surface, as it is quite abundant in the solar system as a constituent of comets and planetoids which have often impacted the Moon’s surface, as well as every other planetary body. What would be of scientific interest is finding _liquid_ water (or signs of liquid water having existed in a persistent manner), as this would open the possibility of supporting the development of life independent of the Earth. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-on-the-moon/531071/13 "2010-03-03T18:37:23Z")
To be fair, the Police wrote about this long ago: > [@](#): > > Giant strokes are what you take > Water on the moon > I hope my legs don’t break > Water on the moon > We could swim for ever > Water on the moon > We could dive together > Water on, water on the moon > > … > > Some may say > I’m swimming my days away, no way At least that’s the way I heard it. ---
**Author:** ![panman\_1960](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/919ad9/32.png) [@panman\_1960](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panman_1960)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-on-the-moon/531071/14 "2010-03-04T13:04:39Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Which just means you can sling random unsubstantiated claims with abandon? > > From the cite: > _…futuristic power plants that have been demonstrated in proof-of-concept but are likely decades away from commercial deployment._ > Stranger I made a comment. It was correct. “futuristic power plants that have been demonstrated in proof-of-concept” You could have googled it yourself and found the info. I’m not posting in GQ nor Great Debates. I always like the ones on here that have to pick nits and be “Oh SO Right!” Probably the main reason I quit posting and reading here 10 years ago before Wally died. Some folks just can’t let the entertainment flow, no matter which forum they are in. Thanks for reminding me, since I obviously sling unsusbtantiated claims with abandon.