Moon's water is useful resource, says Nasa (BBC)

By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent, BBC News

There are oases of water-rich soil that could sustain astronauts on the Moon, according to Nasa.

Scientists studied the full results of an experiment that smashed a rocket and a probe into a lunar crater last year.

The impacts kicked up large amounts of rock and dust, revealing a suite of fascinating chemical compounds and far more water than anyone had imagined.

A Nasa-led team tells Science magazine that about 155kg of water vapour and water-ice were blown out of the crater.

The researchers' analysis suggests some areas of lunar regolith, or soil, must contain as much as 5% by weight of water-ice.
***
more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11598813

just catapult it out into deep space... the kinds of responsible environmental policies which have kept earth so pristine and unspoiled.

:hide:

Top scientists say robots can do MORE than men at 10% of cost.

But greedheads want bigger profits from big manned shots in a privatized NASA.

Name one thing robots cannot do now or very soon.

Save 90% of nasa budget and hire the food inspectors and bridge inspectors, pothole repairmen, cops and air traffic controllers we had before RR.

Oh, and also NIH researchers... Someday
Your family will need cures.. Bet on it. You will never NEED a man on Mars.

But even then, a conundrum that requires a whole new mission to solve, could be resoved in five minutes by a thinking brain on the spot.

Individual experiments might well be cheaper if undertaken by dedicated robotic devices. But one man with a limited amount of equipment can do dozens of different experiments and change course mid-stream to perform dozens more. One man in a day could do what the admittedly indominitable rovers took several years to accomplish. And he can follow up on a discovery immediately. Men can improvise. Robots can't. Men can get out and push. Or dig out a bogged wheel. Change a seized bearing. Or unfold a stuck antena. We're infinitely versatile.

No amount of automation has been able to remove men entirely from the dangers of mining. Augmentations most certainly increase each individual's productivity, but nothing eliminates him entirely. The same goes for construction and assembly processes of all kind.

Mining and construction in space could solve some of the most pressing needs of the coming century.