Helium found in moon's atmosphere (maybe Argon too)

TG Daily; sourced from Geophysical Research Letters ^ | 16 Aug 2012 | Kate Taylor

[rjbemsha]

Observations from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) have revealed the presence of helium in the thin atmosphere surrounding the moon. Scientists made the discovery using the Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) spectrometer, usually used for mapping the lunar surface, combined with measurements taken as far back as 1972 by Apollo 17's by the Lunar Atmosphere Composition Experiment (LACE).

[rjbemsha]

"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.

[Captain Beyond]

bflr

[fieldmarshaldj]

So that means everyone sounds like the Chipmunks on the moon ?

[golux]

No, silly. Nobody breathes on the moon! The Helium is just there to keep it floating up in the sky.

[kidd]

The presence of helium in the moon’s (very) thin atmosphere has been known since the moon landings.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Frank Booth will be very pleased.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjxvZw1CwQ4

Warning: Language, NSFW !

[Thorliveshere]

I knew it! I knew that all of my balloons when I was a child floated up to the moon!!! :D

[zeugma]

"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.

I'd bet on the former. 

How many millibars of atmosphere does the moon actually have? It's generally referred to as 'airless', but any body as large as the moon will have some trace atmosphere due to gravity.

[MikeD]

The lunar exosphere is 1/trillionth of an atmosphere. Apollo 17 measured helium on the lunar surface, but LAMP can measure helium density as a function of altitude, since it makes the measurement from lunar orbit.

MD, LAMP Instrument Scientist

[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic is from 8/16/2012. Thanks rjbemsha.

---

join or quit view topics view or post blog bookmark post new topic subscribe

---