Without water or oxygen...the moon really rusts?

Weather of Arabia - Research revealed that the moon began to rust, which surprised scientists, as there is no oxygen or water on the moon, which are the two basic elements for the formation of rust, according to a CNN report.

In 2008, the Indian lunar probe Chandrayaan 1 orbited the moon and collected data that led to many discoveries, including the presence of water molecules on its surface. The probe also carried an instrument from the US Space Agency (NASA) to analyze the mineral composition of the moon.

When researchers at NASA and the Hawaii Geophysical and Planetary Institute recently analyzed the data, they discovered hints of hematite, a type of iron oxide known as rust. Although there are iron-rich rocks on the moon, the formation of rust requires exposure to oxygen and water.

Abigail Freeman, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said:

“At first, I didn't quite believe it. "This should not exist based on the conditions of the moon."

Not only is there no air on the Moon, but it is also bathed in hydrogen from the solar wind, which prevents rust from forming by adding electrons to the iron.

“The Moon is an unsuitable environment for hematite to form,” Shuai Li of the University of Hawaii, lead author of the study, called it puzzling. After months of research, Lee and NASA scientists believe the answer lies on Earth.

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One of the main pieces of evidence is the concentration of rust on the side of the Moon that faces the Earth, indicating its connection to our planet. The Earth is surrounded by a magnetic field, and the solar wind stretches this field to form a long magnetic tail. The Moon enters this tail three days before it is full, and it takes six days to cross and exit the tail. .

During these six days, the Earth's magnetic tail covers the moon's surface with electrons, which can cause strange effects. Dust particles on the moon's surface may float off the Earth, and moon dust may turn into a dust storm, according to NASA.

Lee pointed out that oxygen from Earth travels on this magnetic tail to land on the Moon, where it interacts with water molecules on its surface to form rust. Earth's magnetic tail also blocks most of the solar wind during a full moon, which temporarily protects the Moon from hydrogen, and opens a window for rust formation.

"Our hypothesis is that lunar hematite is formed by the oxidation of the Moon's surface iron by oxygen from the Earth's upper atmosphere, which is transported to the Moon's surface by solar wind when the Moon has been in the Earth's magnetic tail for the past several billion years," Lee explained. He added, "This discovery will reshape our knowledge of the polar regions of the Moon, and the Earth may have played an important role in the evolution of the Moon's surface."

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