Spaceship Moon

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How did water from Earth end up on the moon? Scientist's analysis of lunar rocks find moisture is identical to our own

Lunar rocks brought home by US astronauts contain droplets of water chemically identical to those on Earth
Research may change our understanding of the Moon's formation

By SAM WEBB
10 May 2013

Water inside the Moon’s mantle came from primitive meteorites - the same source thought to have supplied most of the water on Earth, according to new research.
The findings, from an analysis of lunar rocks brought back by US astronauts, raise new questions about the process that formed the Moon.
The Moon is thought to have formed from a disc of debris left when a giant object hit the Earth 4.5 billion years ago, very early in Earth’s history.
Imported water: Scientists believe water found on the Moon is the same as here on Earth

LUNAR ROCKS
The latest results come from studies samples returned from the moon, including green-tinged stone collected by Apollo 15 in 1971, and orange material gathered by Apollo 17 in 1972.
The surprise discovery of the green rock, by Commander Dave Scott and lunar module pilot Jim Irwin, sparked a lengthy debate among the astronauts about the boulder's true colour while Nasa controllers listened in.
Scientists have long assumed that the heat from an impact of that size would cause hydrogen and other volatile elements to boil off into space, meaning the Moon must have started off completely dry.

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But recently, NASA spacecraft and new research on samples from the Apollo missions have shown that the Moon actually has water, both on its surface and beneath.
By showing that water on the Moon and on Earth came from the same source, this new study offers yet more evidence that the Moon’s water has been there all along.
'The simplest explanation for what we found is that there was water on the proto-Earth at the time of the giant impact,' said Alberto Saal, associate professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University and the study’s lead author.
'Some of that water survived the impact, and that’s what we see in the Moon.'
To find the origin of the Moon’s water, Saal and his colleagues looked at melt inclusions found in samples brought back from the Apollo missions.

HOW WAS THE MOON FORMED?
Debate still rages over exactly how the moon was formed.
According to the leading theory, the moon was formed about 4.5bn years ago, from a hot cloud of debris that was knocked into space when a planet the size of Mars slammed into Earth.
Astronomers have carried out numerous simulations of the impact event, and many believe it to be the most likely explanation.
The latest findings suggest the Earth was already damp at the time the moon was created.
'The simplest explanation for what we found is that there was water on the proto-Earth at the time of the giant impact,' said Alberto Saal, associate professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University and the study’s lead author.
'Some of that water survived the impact, and that’s what we see in the Moon.
Melt inclusions are tiny dots of volcanic glass trapped within crystals called olivine.
The crystals prevent water escaping during an eruption and enable researchers to get an idea of what the inside of the Moon is like.
Research from 2011 found that the melt inclusions have plenty of water — as much water in fact as lavas forming on the Earth’s ocean floor.
This study aimed to find the origin of that water.
Comets, like meteorites, are known to carry water and other volatiles, but most comets formed in the far reaches of the solar system in a formation called the Oort Cloud.
Because they formed so far from the sun, they tend to have high deuterium/hydrogen ratios — much higher ratios than in the Moon’s interior, where the samples in this study came from.
'The measurements themselves were very difficult,' Hauri said, 'but the new data provide the best evidence yet that the carbon-bearing chondrites were a common source for the volatiles in the Earth and Moon, and perhaps the entire inner solar system.'
Recent research, Saal said, has found that as much as 98 percent of the water on Earth also comes from primitive meteorites, suggesting a common source for water on Earth and water on Moon.
The easiest way to explain that, Saal says, is that the water was already present on the early Earth and was transferred to the Moon.
The finding is not necessarily inconsistent with the idea that the Moon was formed by a giant impact with the early Earth, but presents a problem.
If the Moon is made from material that came from the Earth, it makes sense that the water in both would share a common source.
However, the team say there is still the question of how that water was able to survive such a violent collision.
'The impact somehow didn’t cause all the water to be lost,' Saal said. 'But we don’t know what that process would be.'
It suggests, the researchers say, that there are some important processes we don’t yet understand about how planets and satellites are formed.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/a...-ours.html

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From previous article:

HOW WAS THE MOON FORMED?
Debate still rages over exactly how the moon was formed.
According to the leading theory, the moon was formed about 4.5bn years ago, from a hot cloud of debris that was knocked into space when a planet the size of Mars slammed into Earth.
Astronomers have carried out numerous simulations of the impact event, and many believe it to be the most likely explanation.
The latest findings suggest the Earth was already damp at the time the moon was created.
'The simplest explanation for what we found is that there was water on the proto-Earth at the time of the giant impact,' said Alberto Saal, associate professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University and the study’s lead author.
'Some of that water survived the impact, and that’s what we see in the Moon.

Wild speculation which does not accord with the evidence of the age of moon rocks nor their composition.