Meteorites uncover ice which could point to life

space missions have found evidence of ice on Mars - a sign the planet could sustain extraterrestrial life.
Nasa said its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted ice at five new Martian craters, likely kicked up by meteor impacts. ‘This ice is a relic of a more humid climate from perhaps just several thousand years ago,’ said Shane Byrne of the University of Arizona. ‘This is a real water resource.’
The discovery at the satellite’s mid-latitudes is much further from the poles than was previously thought. This, argues a report in Scientific American, would provide supplies for colonists to use on landing.
The news comes a day after it was also revealed that large quantities of water had been found on the surface of the Moon. It means a manned base on the Earth’s satellite could now become a reality within 20 years. The discovery increases the chances of humanity living on the lunar surface inside protective domes, mining the rocks and dust for water to drink and power spacecrafts. The scientific discovery made by the Indian lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 was announced by Nasa today. ‘Widespread water has been detected on the surface of the Moon. None of us had expected this 10 years ago,’ Nasa’s Carle Pieters said.
Dr Jessica Sunshine, one of the researchers who found the water, said: ‘It’s sort of just sticking on the surface. We always think of the Moon as dead, and this is sort of a dynamic process that’s going on.’
Ten years ago, scientists found traces of water lying in the shadowy craters at the Moon’s poles. The latest announcement comes two weeks before a Nasa probe will smash near the Moon’s south pole to see whether it can kick up buried ice. The discovery, with three studies being published in the journal Science today and a Nasa briefing, could refocus interest in the moon. – Daily Mail
The appeal of the Moon waned after astronauts visited 40 years ago and called it ‘magnificent desolation’. The discovery confirms what two other space probes have found, namely that the chemical signs of water are all over the Moon’s surface.
It is not enough moisture to foster home-grown life on the Moon. But if processed in mass quantities, it might provide resources - drinking water and rocket fuel - for future Moon-dwellers, scientists say. The water comes and goes during the lunar day.
Dr Sunshine said a two litre bottle of lunar earth would only provide enough water to fill the pipette of a medicine bottle. And Nasa’s Rob Green told a press conference tonight: ‘Even the driest deserts on Earth have more water than at the poles of the Moon.’
When Apollo astronauts first returned from the Moon in 1969, they brought back souvenirs in the form of rocks to be used for analysis, and one of the chief questions was if there was water in lunar rocks and soils.