Seldom Bucket
Well-Known Member
The Moon, our closest cosmic neighbour, and the only other body in the Solar System on which humans have set foot, is fairly well known to us. We know that there is practically no air. We know that there is water ice, but no liquid water.
So you can understand why the detection of haematite on the Moon has scientists baffled, since haematite is an oxidised form of iron that, here on Earth, requires the presence of both air and water to form.
Especially since the Moon is constantly bombarded with a stream of hydrogen from the solar wind, a reducing agent that 'donates' its electrons to the materials it interacts with. Oxidisation occurs due to a loss of electrons - so even if all of the right elements were present for oxidisation to occur, the solar wind should cancel it out.
Bizarre Discovery Reveals The Moon Is Rusting, Even Without Liquid Water And Oxygen
The Moon, our closest cosmic neighbour, and the only other body in the Solar System on which humans have set foot, is fairly well known to us.
www.sciencealert.com