Seeking the Moon’s Rare Atmosphere

(Before It's News)

Using the dim light of distant stars reflecting off of the surface of the Moon, scientists using a spectrometer aboard NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter have found traces of the Moon’s tenuous atmosphere. But don’t expect to take off your protective spacesuit. The Moon’s atmosphere is made of helium.

“The question now becomes, does the helium originate from inside the Moon, for example, due to radioactive decay in rocks, or from an exterior source, such as the solar wind.” says Dr. Alan Stern, LAMP principal investigator and associate vice president of the Space Science and Engineering Division at Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colo.
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Read the rest of Seeking the Moon’s Rare Atmosphere (316 words)

© John Williams for Universe Today, 2012. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: Apollo 17, LACE, LAMP, Lunar Atmosphere Composition Experiment, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Lyman Alpha Mapping Project, Moon, NASA

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