The moon is rusting, and Earth is to blame

CNET ^ | Sept. 2, 2020 6:36 p.m. PT | Mark Serrels

[BenLurkin]

So why does rust currently exist on the moon? There are a number of factors, but Earth is partly to blame.

To begin with, water exists on the moon in small quantities. Ice water exists in lunar craters, but that water exists on the far side of the moon, far from where the rust occurred. The current theory is that dust particles that often hit the moon are helping release water molecules, mixing those water molecules with iron on the surface.

Then there's the oxygen part. That's where Earth comes in.

Thanks to the fact it exists in such close proximity to Earth, the moon plays host to trace amounts of oxygen, traveling from Earth's upper atmosphere all the way to the moon. Li found that the side of the moon that faces Earth has more rust than the areas that don't face Earth.

He believes this process has been occurring on the moon for billions of years. Moon, please accept our most sincere apologies for the rust.

[tinyowl]

Wow, they didn’t blame global climate racism.

[stormhill]

Has science yet revealed which specific policy of the Trump administration led to this crisis?

[Celtic Conservative]

It’ll buff out.

CC

[tinyowl]

it's ALMOST like they are saying 'some things happen naturally, sometimes over billions of years, sometimes millions, sometimes thousands' ... it's ALMOST as if climate change might just happen because it does, and it's ALMOST like race relations have been getting better for decades and will continue to do so as long as we don't interfere.

Or, we could try to paint the moon with rustoleum. But that just might make things worse, as do most of man's good intentions.

[Seruzawa]

Now how are the Nazis supposed to run a respectable moon base with this going on? Sheesh. Dammed Earth!

[wally_bert]

There isn’t enough WD40 and steel wool to handle that much rust.

Maybe get it powder coated.

[aomagrat]

Maybe one of the astronauts took a leak on some iron ore.

[StormEye]

" The Moon is rusting ..."

American media: "It's Trump's fault."

[EvilCapitalist]

If the moon is rusting, what is Uranus doing?

[crosdaddy]

Browning💩

[EvilCapitalist]

Lol!

[pas]

I thought it has been getting harder and harder to breathe

[Grampa Dave]

[kanawa]

Rust Never Sleeps

[fieldmarshaldj]

*ping*

[trebb]

Save the Moon - less Oxygen and more CO² might be the ticket......oh.....wait.......

[SunkenCiv]

See, all this time I thought the red color was from the Moon's being a big pizza pie.

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The rest of the smallcomets keyword, chrono:

• Not all the Earth's Water Came From Comets [2018]
• 'Cloud' over Mars leaves scientists baffled [2015]
• Cosmic Impacts May Have Seeded Early Earth with Ingredients for Life [2015]
• Rosetta Instrument Reignites Debate on Earth's Oceans [2014]
• Water On Earth Is Older Than The Sun [2014]
• Water Hidden in the Moon May Have Proto-Earth Origin [2013]
• We are all made of comet dust [2013]
• Man Captures Video Of Strange Explosion In The Sky [2013]
• Solar System Ice: Source of Earth's Water [2012]
• Amazingly, the earths water is really a miniscule amount [2012]
• Astronomy Picture of the Day -- All the Water on Planet Earth [2012]
• Comet's water 'like that of Earth's oceans' [2011]
• Telescope shoots video of heavenly halo ("mystery flash" filmed from Mauna Kea, Hawaii) [2011]
• Kansas scientists probe mysterious possible comet strikes on Earth [2009]
• Military Covering Up Fireballs From Space [2009]
• Military Covering Up Fireballs From Space.... [2009]
• Did Comets Contain Key Ingredients For Life On Earth? [2009]
• Unseen dark comets 'could pose deadly threat to earth' [2009]
• Clandestine comets found in main asteroid belt - Earth oceans origin [2006]
• The Comet and the Future of Science [2006]
• Cosmic Hole-in-One Captured Over Antarctica [2005]
• Comet put on list of potential Earth impactors [2005]
• Satellite Photo: What is this? [2005]
• Small Comets and Our Origins [2004]
• An Argument for the Cometary Origin of the Biosphere [2004]
• Did comets flood Earth's oceans? [2004]
• So, where did the water on Mars come from? [2004]

[gleeaikin]

Thanks for the list. I have sent it to my grandchildren and asked if they want more like that.

[SunkenCiv]

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The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes: Flood, Fire, and Famine in the History of Civilization by Richard Firestone, Allen West, and Simon Warwick-Smith

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