The Moon Had Its Own Atmosphere

New analyses of moon rocks from the Apollo missions show that our moon used to have its very own atmosphere with a mix of gases and water vapour.

ASTRONOMY When US astronauts visited the Moon in the 1970s, they collected stones from lava rocks, which continue to reveal new information about the Moon. Most recently, NASA researchers have discovered that 3-4 bn years ago, the Moon’s bubbling core poured out so much gas and water vapour that the Moon had its own atmosphere. Yet, it was thought that the Moon, like today, did not have an atmosphere, because its gravity isn't strong enough to hold lighter elements and compounds. But scientists now believe that the Moon was spewing out gas at a tremendous pace, so the atmosphere lasted 70 m years.

The discovery was made when scientists found traces of carbon monoxide, hydrogen, oxygen and sulphur and other volatile compounds in the old moon rocks. Then, they mapped out the vast lava- covered plains of the Moon and calculated the amount of gas that would have come out of the intense volcanic activity. And that was sufficient to create an atmosphere.

The scientists believe that remnants of the atmosphere can be found in the form of ice around the cold, dark areas at the poles. This is good news for future space travellers, who may be able to find water, hydrogen and oxygen at the surface of the Moon.

Lava from the Moon’s then 1 glowing interior spread across the surface and filled up large craters from comets and asteroids. They are now known as large basalt plains. 4 2 Gasses consisting of sulphur, carbon monoxide and water vapour were spewed out...