Detection of Water in the LCROSS Ejecta Plume
Abstract
Watering the Moon: About a year ago, a spent upper stage of an Atlas rocket was deliberately crashed into a crater at the south pole of the Moon, ejecting a plume of debris, dust, and vapor. The goal of this event, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) experiment, was to search for water and other volatiles in the soil of one of the coldest places on the Moon: the permanently shadowed region within the Cabeus crater. Using ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared spectroscopy data from accompanying craft, Colaprete et al. (p. 463 ; see the news story by Kerr ; see the cover) found evidence for the presence of water and other volatiles within the ejecta cloud. Schultz et al. (p. 468 ) monitored the different stages of the impact and the resulting plume. Gladstone et al. (p. 472 ), using an ultraviolet spectrograph onboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), detected H 2 , CO, Ca, Hg, and Mg in the impact plume, and Hayne et al. (p. 477 ) measured the thermal signature of the impact and discovered that it had heated a 30 to 200 square-meter region from ∼40 kelvin to at least 950 kelvin. Paige et al. (p. 479) mapped cryogenic zones predictive of volatile entrapment, and Mitrofanov et al. (p. 483 ) used LRO instruments to confirm that surface temperatures in the south polar region persist even in sunlight. In all, about 155 kilograms of water vapor was emitted during the impact; meanwhile, the LRO continues to orbit the Moon, sending back a stream of data to help us understand the evolution of its complex surface structures.
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According to LCROSS data, the estimated water content in PSRs is about 5.6±2.9 wt%.
“According to the data from the Moon impact experiment of Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), the estimated water content in PSRs is about 5.6±2.9 wt%, 82”
From Energy system and resource utilization in space: A state-of-the-art review (2024) · cites this paper as [82]
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- Authors
- Colaprete, A., Schultz, P., Heldmann, J., Wooden, D., Shirley, M., Ennico, K., Hermalyn, B., Marshall, W., Ricco, A., Elphic, R. C., Goldstein, D., Summy, D., Bart, G. D., Asphaug, E., Korycansky, D., Landis, D., & Sollitt, L.
- Affiliations
- Ames Research Center (US)
- Brown University (US)
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- University of Idaho (US)
- University of California, Santa Cruz (US)
- Aurora Design and Technology, Palm Harbor, FL 34685, USA.
- Citadel (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2010-10-22
- Volume
- 330
- Issue
- 6003
- Pages
- 463-468
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2087807155
- Cited by
- 961
- References
- 20
- Citations by year
- 2026: 92 · 2025: 83 · 2024: 103 · 2023: 100 · 2022: 62 · 2021: 74 · 2020: 54 · 2019: 44 · 2018: 36 · 2017: 29 · 2016: 40 · 2015: 46 · 2014: 52 · 2013: 38 · 2012: 56
- FWCI
- 25.87
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Planetary Science and Exploration
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astro and Planetary Science
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › History and Developments in Astronomy
- Keywords
- LCROSS, lunar water, permanently shadowed regions, volatile compounds, water vapor, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, ultraviolet spectroscopy, near-infrared spectroscopy, impact plume
- MeSH terms
- Extraterrestrial Environment, Ice, Water, Moon, Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared
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