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Observations of water vapor ions at the lunar surface

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The presence of water on the Moon is crucial for understanding its geological history and potential for supporting future human exploration. This study reports the detection of bursts of water vapor ions at the lunar surface during the Apollo 14 mission, suggesting that these ions are of lunar origin rather than from artificial or external sources.

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Abstract

The Apollo 14 Suprathermal Ion Detector Experiment observed a series of bursts of 48.6 eV water vapor ions at the lunar surface during a 14-h period on March 7, 1971. The maximum flux observed was 108 ions cm−2 s−1 sr−1. These ions were also observed at Apollo 12, 183 km to the west. Evaluation of specific artificial sources including the Apollo missions and the Russian Lunokhod leads to the conclusion that the water vapor did not come from a man-made source. Natural sources exogenous to the Moon such as comets and the solar wind are also found to be inadequate to explain the observed fluxes. Consequently, these water vapor ions appear to be of lunar origin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Space Science, Rice University, Houston, Tex., USA

    J. W. Freeman Jr., H. K. Hills, R. A. Lindeman & R. R. Vondrak

Authors
  1. J. W. Freeman Jr.
  2. H. K. Hills
  3. R. A. Lindeman
  4. R. R. Vondrak

Additional information

Paper dedicated to Prof. Harold C. Urey on the occasion of his 80th birthday on 29 April 1973.

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Freeman, J.W., Hills, H.K., Lindeman, R.A. et al. Observations of water vapor ions at the lunar surface. The Moon 8, 115–128 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00562753

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