science Q: water on moon
any water on the moon would be in the form of ice on the dark side ,would it not? Since the hot side would steam it off and it would eventually end up over on the cold dark side and freeze or freeze in the shadows of the hot side ,craters and behind hills.
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My name is Richard Wright but I did not play on that album, so I don't know.
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No, it would. Don
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Dark side of the moon makes for a better rock album title than a description of the lunar surface. Since the moon orbits the earth the back side of the moon gets as much sunlight as the side facing the earth. So when we have a full moon the back side is dark and when we have a new moon the back side is lit. A couple of years ago NASA was going to look for water in deep craters at the poles because those are the only locations that may always be in shadow. I can't recall if any appreciable amount was found. Bob
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The dark side is only called dark because it is always facing away from the earth. It gets as much sun as the rest of the moon and exposed ice would evaporate. Water on the moon is entrained in the soil and rocks.
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Thank you Cliff Clavin
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There is ice there. As mentioned above, it is at the poles and in deep craters where sun never reaches.
The planet Mercury may be the only object in the solar system with a "dark side" because it is tidally locked to the sun. One side always faces the sun and one side always faces away. That means that one side is hotter than the melting point of lead and the other side is several hundred degrees below zero.
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Looks like the folks could live right in the middle on sunset strip
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That has actually been proposed. It would be the only feasible place to land a probe. A manned trip would likely be a suicide mission due to the extreme levels of radiation that close to the sun, however. Mercury is a VERY odd planet with many observed things that are wildly improbable if not impossible as we understand things. You can look it up.
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