REAL LIFE NEWS: WAS THERE LIFE ON THE MOON?
by Hazed
The moon is a desolate place, with no atmosphere and nothing except dust and rock to be seen. But it may not have always been like that, according to a new paper. Once, it’s surface could even have supported life.
The paper says that there were two periods in the moon’s history during which it may have had the conditions needed for life to develop. The first period was shortly after the satellite was formed, when an early planet called Theia collided with the Earth 4.5 billion years ago. The second time was about 3.5 billion years ago.
The theory is that the debris from which the moon was formed after that gigantic collision would have retained some water as well as a small concentration of volatiles. Once the body had grown in mass, the surface would have been molten with flowing oceans of magma. These would have belched out large volumes of hot gassy volatiles, including water vapour. This could have formed into liquid pools of water and could have created an atmosphere around the moon.
If those things were present for a long period, then the surface of the moon could have been habitable, at least for a while.
To prove this theory, scientists will need samples of rock deposits from the moon’s surface so they can see if there are any signs of there having been water in the past and the other ingredients necessary for life. Just one more reason why we need to get back to the moon.
Source: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/07/24/young_moon_life/
