Do you dream to create water on the moon? Use solar wind

Do you dream to create water on the moon? Use solar wind

Researchers studying the influence of the solar wind on the lunar surface believe that this contact is capable of creating a key component of water

Humanity is not able to do without water, so a serious problem arises in the long-term cosmic exploration, if we do not understand how it is formed in other parts of the solar system.

In the new study, it is believed that during the creation of water components, the Moon receives a pulse from a constant stream of charged plasma particles coming from the Sun in the form of the solar wind. That is, every space rock has the potential to form water, especially if it is irradiated by the solar wind.

Researchers have developed a new simulation of chemical reactions occurring on the lunar surface. A computer model has shown that the solar wind destroys oxygen-rich compounds in the soil of an earth satellite. After that, protons with a positive charge in the solar wind are connected to the lunar electrons, producing hydrogen atoms. In the end, these atoms collide with oxygen atoms (located in a number of molecules on the moon), creating hydroxyl (OH). If we add to it another hydrogen atom, we get water. It turns out that the solar wind becomes a potentially valuable resource, although usually this phenomenon is perceived as a threat to life. The Earth protects us from negative influence due to the dense atmospheric layer and a powerful magnetic field. However, the moon is devoid of such protection, and the solar wind hits the surface.

Now the study focused only on the earth satellite. But scientists believe that such a process works wherever the solar wind collides with a rock. If this is so, then future colonists have a lot to think about, because in the future it will turn out to produce water on the spot.

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