FAR from being a dead lump of rock, the Moon may still be alive. The claim
may spark a new interest in missions to the Moon.
We believe our Moon formed about 4 billion years ago, when a Mars-sized
planet hit the Earth and released debris. Researchers believe any early volcanic
activity has long since ceased.
But Peter Schultz of Brown University in Rhode Island disagrees. The
composition and brightness of Ina, a region 25 kilometres across in the Moon鈥檚
northern hemisphere, suggests that it formed just a few million years ago and
that bombardment by micrometeorites has not yet had time to dull it. 鈥淎nd many
other regions haven鈥檛 been touched by erosion,鈥� he says.
Advertisement
Schultz speculates that Ina could have vents funnelling volcanic gas and
material up to the surface. 鈥淭hese could be the Moon鈥檚 last gasps,鈥� he says.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very exciting,鈥� agrees Clive Neal of the University of Notre Dame in
Indiana. 鈥淏ut to tell if he鈥檚 right, we really need to go there.鈥�