FEATURED TOPIC: WATER ON THE MOON

FEATURED TOPIC: WATER ON THE MOON

Recent Findings

• In Nov 2009 NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) space probe detects significant presence of water on the moon
• The water was found in the Cabeus crater near the south pole of the moon
• This followed ISRO’s detection of water near the Shackleton crater in Sep 2009. The water was found by NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper probe carried onboard ISRO’s Chandrayaan I spacecraft

Scientific understanding of lunar water

• Probe said to detect significant amount of hydroxyl group (OH) in the material thrown up by an impactor that impacted the lunar surface
• Evidence points to hydroxyl group being chemically bound to minerals on the lunar surface (rather than as free water)
• Water may have been delivered to the moon over a long period by the regular bombardment of water-bearing comets, or may have been produced in situ by the hydrogen atoms (protons) of solar wind
• Liquid water cannot persist at the moon’s surface and water vapour is quickly lost to space. However, it is believed that water ice could survive in the cold permanently shadowed craters near the poles, which is exactly where water has been found presently.

History of observations

• The first evidence of water ice on the moon came from the US military’s Clementine probe in 1994.
• In 1998, the Lunar Prospector Probe found significant amounts hydrogen at the lunar north and south poles
• Sep 2009: Presence of hydrogen in the form of hydroxyl group reported by NASA’s Moon Minerology Mapper aboard ISRO’s Chandrayaan I
• Nov 2009: Presence of hydroxyl group in significant quantities confirmed by NASA’s LCROSS mission

Significance of lunar water

• Availability of hydroxyl group in significant quantities enables the extraction of water from lunar soil in a cost-effective manner
• Extraction of water would permit permanent human settlements on the moon. This would permit colonization of the moon
• Discovery of water on the moon raises questions on who owns the water and who has the right to exploit it
• The UN’s Outer Space Treaty does not prevent the exploitation of lunar surfaces. However, the treaty, ratified by most space-faring nations including India, does prevent the appropriation of the Moon by individual nations.
• The Moon Treaty (Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies) specifically stipulates that exploitation of lunar resources is to be governed by an international regime. However, this treaty has not been ratified by major space-faring nations. India has signed the treaty but not ratified it.

RECENT NOTEWORTHY DEVELOPMENTS

DOMESTIC

1. Mukesh Ambani is the richest person in India with a net worth of $32 bn. According to the Forbes India Rich List, Lakshmi Mittal is second with $30 bn and Anil Ambani is third with $17.5 bn
   
2. Railways exams to be conducted in regional languages too. Minister of Railways, Mamata Banerjee, announces that in addition to English, Hindi and Urdu, Railways exams will be conducted simultaneously in regional languages as well.
3. General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC) pays Rs 167 cr to the Taj and Oberoi hotels for the 26 Nov terrorist attacks. GIC is the administrator of the terror insurance pool formed in 2001 to pay claims arising out of terrorist attacks.
4. India to introduce Mobile Number Portability on Dec 31. MNP allows users to retain their mobile phone numbers even if they switch operators. It is being implemented by TRAI
5. Madras High Court judges declare their assets on the court website. Taking a cue from the SC, all 54 judges of the Madras HC, including the Madurai Bench, declared their assets under the Voluntary Disclosure of Assets resolution passed by the Madras HC in Sep 2009
6. Hockey: Rajpal Singh to lead India in the Champions Challenge at Salta, Argentina Dec 6-13
7. Chess: Vishwanathan Anand finished second in the World Blitz Championship in Moscow, behind Magnus Carlsen of Norway

INTERNATIONAL

1. Nepal: Maoist-Government talks fail. Maoists announce they will begin a third
   “People’s movement” in Dec. A general strike has also been called for Dec 20-22 to force the government to accept Maoist demands. The Maoists have also threatened to proceed with their plans to announce the division of Nepal into nearly a dozen autonomous states.
2. UNICEF says Afghanistan is the most dangerous place to be born in. Afghanistan has the highest infant mortality rate in the world (257/1000) and over 70% of the population lack access to clean water. Increasing Taliban attacks have also forced school shutdowns, crippled vaccination efforts against polio and measles and closed off more than 40% of the territory to aid agencies.
3. Indian economist Siddharth Tiwari is named Secretary of the IMF. As Secretary, his role will involve working with the IMF’s Executive Board and daily interactions with management and staff. He will be working under the MD of IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Delhi, a masters from the London School of Economics and a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago.
4. Sri Lanka to allow refugees help in camps to leave for short period from next month. More than 130000 people have been held in special camps since the end of the war with the LTTE in May 2009. Sri Lanka’s decision follows months of international criticism over holding people in the camps against their will. The govt. says presently people will not be allowed the leave the camps permanently.
5. China’s Tianhe-1 becomes the fifth most powerful supercomputer in the world. It packs 563 teraflops (trillion calculations per second) and is housed at the National SuperComputer Centre, Tianjin. India’s most powerful supercomputer is the HP Cluster Platform 3000 at the Computational Research Lab, Pune (132 teraflops). The top five supercomputers in the world are
   1. Jaguar, Oak Ridge National Lab, US (1.7 petaflops)
   2. Roadrunner, Los Alamos National Lab (1 petaflops)
   3. Kraken XT5, University of Tennessee, US (831 teraflops)
   4. Jugene, Forschungszentrum Juelich, Germany (825 teraflops)
   5. Tianhe-1, National SuperComputer Centre, China (563 teraflops)