The moon may have already supported life, scientists say

The "man in the moon" is perhaps not so far removed from reality.

Scientists believe that the desolate companion of the Earth could have sustained life on its cratered surface.

The conditions could have suited the simple life shortly after the birth of the moon four billion years ago and again during a peak in lunar volcanic activity half a year ago billion years later

It was believed that the moon had vomited large amounts of overheated gas and water vapor inland.

Degbading could envelop the moon in a dense atmosphere. enough to have the latest American astrobiologist Kirk Schulze-Makuch, of the Washington State University, said: "If liquid water and a significant atmosphere were present on the early moon for long periods Professor Schulze-Makuch and his British colleague Professor Ian Crawford of Birkbeck, University of London, badyzed the results of space missions and recent studies on lunar rock and rock lunar.

Evidence from both shows that the moon is not as dry as we thought.

In 2009 and 2010, an international team discovered hundreds of millions of tons of water ice on the moon

. Large amounts of water have also been found in the lunar mantle, deep beneath the surface, thought to have been deposited shortly after the formation of the moon.

A magnetic field surrounding the young moon would also have Scientists wrote in the journal Astrobiology

that they speculate that simple organisms could have been transported from Earth to the Moon on blown planet pieces in space by meteorites. 19659002] The oldest evidence of life on Earth comes from the fossilized remains of cyanobacteria dating from 3.5 billion to 3.8 billion years ago.

Meanwhile, Earth and other planets in the solar system were heavily bombarded by meteorites. 19659002] "It looks like the moon was habitable right now," said Professor Schulze-Makuch. "There could have been microbes thriving in the water pools on the moon until the surface became dry and dead."

Future space missions could look for life markers in lunar volcanic rocks, he added. and on the International Space Station could also test the ability of microorganisms to survive under simulated conditions of the early moon

The effect "man in the moon" is an optical illusion caused by the Habit of the brain to "see"

Observed from a distance, the dark and light areas of the lunar surface can take on the appearance of human features.

– Press Association