There have been many theories and guesses about conditions on the moon, such as: It’s a dead, dry world; that it has Earth-like mineral soil; that weathering doesn’t occur because the Moon is surrounded by a vacuum, and the like. Information retrieved from the Lunar Prospector probe launched to the Moon several years ago, along with long term study of lunar rocks retrieved from the Apollo missions, have turned up some interesting facts.

The Prospector probe detected huge deposits of frozen water buried at both of the Moon’s poles. This has perked the interest of futurists, who see water as potential rocket fuel (hydrogen and oxygen), where the Moon could become the corner gas station for trips to Mars and beyond. Water would also be used by lunar colonies for drinking, energy, and breathable oxygen.

Recovering this water may not be economically feasible, but there may be another source from lunar dirt. It has been found to contain hydrogen and oxygen. Dr. Larry Taylor, a University of Tennessee scientist, has looked into ways to extract these elements for fuel, water, and other useful products. Go Big Orange! A third fuel option on the Moon is Helium-3, which while rare on Earth is plentiful in lunar soil. It’s used in nuclear fusion energy production.

Dr. Taylor has also researched the phenomenon of space weathering. This is the effect forces have on the exposed lunar surface, such as extreme heat and cold, and especially the impact of lots of microscopic meteorites striking the Moon. It’s sort of like sandblasting. These tiny meteorites are not visible to the naked eye, but pack a wallop. They can hit into the surface of the Moon at speeds up to 100,000 miles per hour. This generates temperatures up to 4000 degrees Fahrenheit, melting small portions of the silica rich lunar soil. This melted silica rapidly cools off to form glass. As a result, 50 to 70 percent of the upper lunar soil layers are glass, not just minerals. No wonder it shines so bright.