I like stories like this. Two big challenges with lunar colonization are finding water to drink and oxygen to breathe. If explorers have to haul it up from the Earth, space exploration will never really take off. Who would imagine that the common kitchen microwave oven might come to the rescue?
Dr. Bill Kaukler, University of Alabama and Dr. Ed Etheridge of Marshall Space Flight Center have a thought to bombard lunar soil with microwaves to tease out water deposited by comet strikes over the eons. It is thought that billions of tons of water exist in lunar soil.
If we had Enceladus in orbit, we’d have no water problems at all. The Cassini probe prepares for two flybys this month. Thursday, mission planners have aimed Cassini to pass sixteen miles above the surface.
