Geologists use Hubble to map minerals on moon

Geologists have used the Hubble Space elescope to study minerals on the moon, the first step towards uilding a possible lunar outpost.

London, July 23 : Geologists have used the Hubble Space elescope to study minerals on the moon, the first step towards uilding a possible lunar outpost.

Space scientists are keen to map the concentration of the itanium-dioxide-rich mineral ilmenite on the moon's surface, iven that "oxygen production from TiO2-enhanced lunar soils ould potentially make breathable oxygen and even oxidiser for ocket fuel".

Jim Garvin of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, aryland, said as UV images of the lunar surface shows patterns hat correlate with the concentration of TiO2 measured in lunar amples collected by the Apollo missions, so a map of the UV ariations can be used to create a map of TiO2 abundance.

However, as Earth's atmosphere interferes with UV readings, so ubble was used to take UV images of a small area of the lunar urface that included the landing sites of the Apollo 15 and 17 pacecraft, he said.

According to New Scientist, when the team further compared the UV ata with the TiO2 levels from the Apollo sampled, they found hat low-lying basaltic soil had six to eight per cent TiO2 by eight, while the highland soils contained only two per cent.

"Our well-calibrated UV images will act as a pathfinder for apping by NASA's 2008 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter," said arvin.

The findings appear in the Geophysical Research Letters.

ANI