Iron and titanium metal more than the Earth on the Moon

Evidence of the presence of metal was found on the moon earlier, but now it has been found that more iron and titanium may be present under its surface than anticipated. NASA scientists have discovered extremely large amounts of metal in the craters while searching for ice on the moon. This metallic distribution on the lunar surface has been observed by a ‘Miniature Radio Frequency – Mini-RF’ device installed on the LRO. The findings of the Mini-RF have been confirmed by the LRO’s wide-angle camera, the Kaguya mission in Japan and the metal oxide map constructed from NASA’s Lunar Prospector spacecraft.

How was it discovered?

• LRO’s Mini-RF instrument was measuring an electrical property within lunar soil in crater floors in the Moon’s northern hemisphere.
• The property, known as the dielectric constant, is the ratio of the electric permeability of a material to the electric permeability of a vacuum.

How was moon created?

• The most popular theory about the Moon’s creation is that a Mars-sized protoplanet collided with newly formed Earth around 4.5 billion years ago, breaking off a piece of our planet that went on to become its satellite.
• The hypothesis is also backed by substantial evidence, such as the close resemblance between the Moon’s bulk chemical composition with that of Earth.

Implications of latest findings:

• It is known that Earth’s crust has lesser amounts of iron oxide than the Moon– a finding that scientists have been trying to explain.
• Now, the new discovery of even greater quantities of metal on the Moon makes their job even more difficult. It really raises the question of what this means for our previous formation hypotheses.
• A possible reason could be that the Moon was created from a material much deeper beneath Earth’s surface than was believed before, or that the newly found metal presence could be the result of molten lunar surface cooling down gradually.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO):

• It is a NASA mission to the moon within the Lunar Precursor and Robotic Program (LPRP) in preparation for future manned missions to the moon and beyond (Mars).
• LRO is the first mission of NASA’s `New Vision for Space Exploration’.

The objectives of LRO are to:

• Identify potential lunar resources.
• Gather detailed maps of the lunar surface.
• Collect data on the moon’s radiation levels.
• Study the moons polar regions for resources that could be used in future manned missions or robotic sample return missions.

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