Over three billion years ago, the moon experienced a period of intense volcanic activity, pumping out massive amounts of gas as lava seas filled its impact basins.
And, as these gases rapidly rose above the surface, they accumulated faster than they could escape to space, giving rise to a lunar atmosphere, a new study has revealed.
The new findings could dramatically reshape our understanding of the moon, suggesting it has not always been the ‘airless’ world it’s now known to be.
Over three billion years ago, the moon experienced a period of intense volcanic activity, pumping out massive amounts of gas as lava seas filled its impact basins. An artist’s impression is pictured
In the new study, backed by NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, researchers calculated just how much gas rose from erupting lava flows on the moon billions of years ago.
According to the experts, volcanic activity peaked roughly 3.5 billion years ago – and with it, so did the atmosphere.
During this time, the atmosphere was at its thickest.
The researchers pinpointed the two largest pulses of gases that contributed to this ancient atmosphere, revealing lava seas once filled the moon’s Serenitatis and Imbrium basins 3.8 and 3.5 billion years ago, respectively.
Astronauts in the Apollo 15 and 17 missions explored the boundaries of these ancient lava seas, collecting samples that tell of the eruptions that took place billions of years ago.
The samples revealed the magma in these regions contained gas components, including carbon monoxide, the ingredients for water, and sulfur, among other volatile species.
‘The total amount of H2O released during the emplacement of the mare basalts is nearly twice the volume of water in Lake Tahoe,’ said Dr. Debra H. Needham, Research Scientist of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.
‘Although much of this vapour would have been lost to space, a significant fraction may have made its way to the lunar poles.
The new findings could dramatically reshape our understanding of the moon, suggesting it has not always been the ‘airless’ world it’s now known to be. A map of basaltic lavas that emitted gases on the lunar nearside is pictured
‘This means some of the lunar polar volatiles we see at the lunar poles may have originated inside the moon.’
Once the atmosphere had formed, the researchers estimate it persisted for about 70 million years.
Then, it was lost to space.
‘This work dramatically changes our view of the moon from an airless rocky body to one that used to be surrounded by an atmosphere more prevalent than that surrounding Mars today,’ said Dr David A Kring, Universities Space Research Association (USRA) Senior Staff Scientist, at the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI).
MOON EXPRESS PLANS TO SET UP A LUNAR MINE
Last year, Moon Express announced its plans to set up a mine on the moon to bring back precious resources, including metals and moon rocks.
And the firm looks to be one step closer to reaching its goal.
In January, Moon Express completed a £16.6 million ($20 million) financing round, bringing its total funding to £37 million ($45 million).
As well as completing its recent financing round, Moon Express has also entered Google’s Lunar Xprize competition, which will give a firm £25 million ($30 million) in reward for landing a rover on the moon.
During November and December 2014, Moon Express successfully conducted its lander test vehicle hot fires and initial flight tests. A thermal infrared image of Moon Express’ MTV-1X test vehicle shown, undergoing a hotfire engine test at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida
Moon Express hopes to mine our satellite for materials like platinum-group metals, rare earth metals, helium-3 and moon rocks.
‘Most of the elements that are rare on Earth are believed to have originated from space, and are largely on the surface of the Moon,’ the company says.
The company has contracted Rocket Lab, which was founded in New Zealand but is now headquartered in Los Angeles, to launch is robotic spacecraft.
Rocket Lab will use its Electron rocket system to launch three missions ofMoon Express’ MX-1 lunar lander spacecraft, starting in 2017.
It’s thought that volatiles on the moon could hold key clues about the formation of our own planet.
And, these materials could provide the resources for lunar surface activities in the future.
With upcoming missions such as the Orion mission and NASA’s Resource Prospector, scientists hope to better understand the nature and distribution of volatile deposits on the moon.