Moon may be rusting along poles, suggest images sent by Chandrayaan-1

Presence of water and oxygen, which the moon is not known to have, is needed to interact with iron to create rust

A radar image of the North Pole of the Moon, showing the position of the crater Erlanger (arrow), which was studied jointly by Chandrayaan-1 and NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2009. File photo.

Images sent by Chandrayaan-1, India’s first lunar mission, suggest that the moon may be rusting along the poles, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on September 6. Chandrayaan-1 was launched in 2008.

The sign of this finding is that even though the surface of the Moon is known to have iron-rich rocks, it is not known for the presence of water and oxygen, which are the two elements needed to interact with iron to create rust, said Mr. Singh, who is the Minister of State for the Department of Space.

Scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) say that this could be because the Earth’s atmosphere is lending a helping hand which, in other words, means that the Earth’s atmosphere could be protecting the moon as well, the statement said.

The Chandrayaan-1 data indicate that the moon’s poles are home to water, this is what the scientists are trying to decipher, the statement added.