Scientists have long suspected the Moon holds sizable reserves of water, secreted as ice in the deep cold of permanently shadowed craters near the poles. Two new studies tell us more about the possible extent of those reserves. One suggests the shadowy polar caches may cover an area equivalent to the states of Connecticut and Massachusetts combined; the other reveals traces of water elsewhere on the Moon's surface, trapped in rocks or between the grains of lunar soil.
Water on the Moon would be good for more than just drinking. It can be chemically split into hydrogen and oxygen, yielding components for rocket fuel—and breathable air. Having ready supplies of water on the lunar surface would be a boon for colonists there, because it is so expensive to transport from Earth. A 2008–09 orbital expedition detected the signature of water in shadowy lunar hollows . But how much is there?
This may worth something:
AFRL project will help ensure return to the moon is safe
As NASA sets a return to the moon in its sights, the Air Force Research Lab, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, will help ensure the way there is safe.
The Space Vehicles Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) held a competition to select a set of flight experiments, and one of those experiments will involve tracking objects between the Earth and the moon.
That project is called "CHPS" for the "Cislunar Highway Patrol System," said the director of the AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate, Col. Eric Felt.
One Mars Trojan asteroid has the same chemical signature as the Earth's moon - Universe Today
Although Mars is much smaller than Earth, it has two moons. Deimos and Phobos were probably once asteroids that were captured by the gravity of Mars. The red planet has also captured nine other small bodies. These asteroids don’t orbit Mars directly, but instead, orbit gravitationally stable points on either side of the planet known as Lagrange points. They are known as trojans, and they move along the Martian orbit about 60° ahead or behind Mars.
We can learn the origin of small bodies by looking at the spectrum of light coming from their surface. Since each type of molecule has a unique spectrum, we can determine the chemical fingerprint of each body. For example, the Martian trojans all contain a mineral known as olivine. Olivine is rare among asteroids but relatively common on Mars. So it’s likely that the trojans originate from Mars.
Can We Escape The Travails Of 2020 By Moving To The Moon? | Above the Law
The main treaty currently dominating the international space field is the Outer Space Treaty (OST) signed in 1967. Since then, it has been nearly impossible to generate enough international consensus to create new and updated laws on the commercialization and property ownership of space and the moon. The relevant provision on whether we can move to space and start building a community far from the troubles on Earth is Article II of the OST.
However, Article II leads to additional questions. What does "national appropriation" in the context of the moon mean? Does national appropriation apply to individuals and companies occupying parts of the moon or only to a nation claiming territory in space? Does appropriation by a company or an individual moving to the moon constitute national appropriation? Based on commercial space industry practice, the answer is simply, no.
And here's another article:
New moon? Scientists claim the Earth's satellite may have a 'dead ringer' | Space | The Guardian
I didn't realise the moon had any siblings. No one did. This one, an asteroid about 1km in diameter, has been hiding behind Mars the whole time.
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What does that mean? It means they looked at it with a very large telescope, known as the Very Large Telescope, located in the Atacama Desert in Chile.
And what did they discover? "In a nutshell, it has the same colour as the moon," said astronomer Dr Apostolos Christou, lead author of a new study conducted by the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium (AOP).
China set to retrieve first Moon rocks in 40 years
"To take it to the next level and return samples from the Moon is a significant technological capability," says Carolyn van der Bogert, a planetary geologist at the University of Münster, Germany.
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The craft is expected to take off on 24 November from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island. Its original launch, planned for 2017, was delayed because of an engine failure in China's Long March 5 launch rocket.
Chang'e-5's mission is to collect dust and debris from a previously unexplored region of the Moon's near side and return them to Earth. If the mission is successful, it will retrieve the first lunar material since the US and Soviet missions in the 1960s and 1970s. Lunar scientists will be eager to study the new samples because of what they might learn about the Moon's evolution. The material could also help researchers more accurately date the surfaces of planets such as Mars and Mercury.
UAE ramps up space ambitions with Arab world's first Moon mission
An artist's impression of Rashid, the UAE's first lunar rover, which will include high-resolution cameras, a thermal imager and a Langmuir Probe. Credit: MBRSC
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced plans to send a compact rover named Rashid to study the Moon in 2024, marking an intensification in the small nation's spacefaring ambitions. If it is successful, the UAE Space Agency would become only the fifth to succeed in placing a craft on the Moon's surface, and the first in the Arab world.
Asteroid 'following' Mars could be long-lost twin of Earth's Moon
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