Water Released From Moon During Meteor Showers (video)

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

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Caption

Scientists have discovered that water is being released from the moon during meteor showers. When a speck of comet debris strikes the moon it vaporizes on impact, creating a shock wave in the lunar soil. For a sufficiently large impactor, this shock wave can breach the soil's dry upper layer and release water molecules from the hydrated layer below. The LADEE spacecraft detects these water molecules as they enter the tenuous lunar atmosphere. This discovery provides a potential resource for future exploration, and it improves our understanding the moon's geologic past and its continued evolution. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZxUyH7vuRk Download in HD formats: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13078

Credit

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

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