Water water Everwhere

Indian lunar probe Chandrayaan* found water on the Moon before
the probe suffered its catastrophic failure:

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre58m71e-us-india-moon-water/

Note that this does not seem to be the convenient ice deposits
as seen in THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRES but more of a low grade water ore:
you'd have to process a lot of regolith to get a cup of water. Still,
not a region we'd have expected to find water at all.

More fruitfully for angry angry space-booster SF authors like
Stephen Baxter, we not only have found water in an unexpected region on
Mars:

http://www.universetoday.com/2009/09/24/new-images-reveal-pure-water-ice-at-low-latitudes-on-mars/#more-41337

It seems Viking may have come within inches of finding it back
in the 1970s. It didn't dig quite deep enough, alas.

The alternate history where we find water on Mars, leading to manned
bases in, oh, 1980 and then Ronald Reagan ascending directly to heaven
in a fiery chariot driven by Gearge H.W. Bush pretty much writes itself.





* And two other probes.
--
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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Manned interplanetary travel is IMPOSSIBLE today, but PROBABLE soon.
    ... is a SHOW STOPPER for any manned missions beyond the moon. ... Earth lifeforms do not have the equivilent of several meters of water ... between them and the nasty radiation. ... the surface of Mars is quite radioactive. ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Improved lunar landing architecture
    ... we can simply send water to the moon. ... >is also abundant on the Moon. ... In this case, the larger the risk, the ... Yes, the Mars Direct plan requires more risk, expense, and resources ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Improved lunar landing architecture
    ... >> Overlooking the fact that it may not actually have water. ... A noticeable chunk out of NASA's two yearly trips to the Moon. ... No point in going to Mars ... works for NASA to one day land people on Mars. ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Improved lunar landing architecture
    ... we can simply send water to the moon. ... is also abundant on the Moon. ... "Go to Mars" they would say. ... >>You can launch rescue missions, ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Improved lunar landing architecture
    ... It probably does have water. ... No point in going to Mars ... Deimos provide excellent resources for them - certainly in the medium ... > And yet here you say go to the Moon, ...
    (sci.space.policy)
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