The Moon does very little water

Moon contains very little water, even in the basement in the form of ice. This is shown by a map produced by the laser altimeter (LALT) on board the Japanese Kaguya orbiter was launched in September 2007 by a rocket H2A. This document an accuracy of 15 km was published Friday in the journal by an international group of researchers. In comparison, the previous mapping established in 1994 by the U.S. Clementine mission provided an accuracy of 20 to 60 km, but only in certain points of the lunar surface. However, the map produced by the team led by Hiroshi Araki of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan covers the whole of the moon's north pole to south pole face down included.

Guider future vehicles

The highest point at 11 000 meters in the basin-Jackson Dririchlet near the equator while the lowest point lies at the bottom of the crater Antoniadi near the South Pole 9 to 000 m deep. With this information, this new map will serve to guide future vehicles to be used around 2020 to scan the lunar surface in search of its geological resources. But the most important information concerning the water supply, almost dry. If the original Moon contained large quantities of this valuable element, it seems that the majority has evaporated as a result of daytime temperatures that can exceed 100 C. "We can confirm that there is very little water on the moon, even in depth," says one team member, Professor Shum of the University of Ohio (USA).

If the water had flowed on the moon, the crust would be more flexible than it is, scientists explain. But it is too rigid, even in depth. By comparison, Earth's crust is more flexible, the rising or sinking ground as the water flows on the surface or underground. Finally, the Kaguya probe revealed that the volcanic activity of the dark side has continued for two billion years after the formation of our satellite.