author: Bartlomiej Sagan
Confirmed Water on The Moon May Help Expeditions to Mars
Recent NASA studies have shown that the surface of the moon may contain large deposits of ice water. Will it be possible to use it for space exploration?
People following every message connected with the expedition to Mars will be glad to hear about the recent discovery of relatively large volume of water in the form of ice on the surface of the Moon. This vital substance is hidden around the pole on the dark side of the Earth's natural satellite.
Hydrogen is the best fuel available today for rocket engines capable of flying into space. However, the problem is how to load and carry a big supply of it, which is necessary for further exploration of space. However, if it turned out that water on the Moon can be obtained and then separated into hydrogen and oxygen by electrolysis, one of the obstacles on the way to Mars would be overcome. On the Moon there would be an infrastructure to produce fuel for long journeys. An additional advantage of such solution is thin atmosphere and gravitational force of barely 1/6 of the Earth - so the rocket launch would not require so much power (and thus fuel).
The verification of these revelations will take place soon. In 2022 NASA will send a device to the South Pole of the Moon to test possibilities of ice extraction. A year later, a rover called Viper will report on the surface of the Earth's satellite, which will collect data needed to map water resources during a 100-day mission. So it remains to wish it good luck, because if it succeeds, space will become a little closer to humanity.