Did life once exist on the moon?

(CNN) – Although the moon may seem desolate and covered with impact craters today, new research suggests that she could have supported life.

A study published Monday in the journal Astrobiology cites two periods the distant past of the moon when conditions on the surface were potentially habitable.

Shortly after the moon formed from a debris disk 4 billion years ago, it released water vapor and other volatile gases into the atmosphere. massive quantities. The second event occurred about 3.5 billion years ago when volcanic activity on the moon peaked

In both cases, the release of these volatile gases would have created masses of liquid water on the surface and a dense atmosphere. stay in place for millions of years. There was probably a magnetic field that could have protected all life on the surface of the solar wind, a deadly flow of charged particles coming out of the sun.

Today, the moon does not have atmosphere but thin layer of gas, including sodium and potassium, which attempt to act as an atmosphere.

"It looks a lot like the moon was habitable at that time" there are billions of years, study author Dirk Schulze-Makuch, an astrobiologist. Washington State University said in a statement. "There could have been microbes thriving in the water pools on the moon until the surface became dry and dead."

The new study relies on spatial data and analyzes of rocks and soils. In recent years, studies have suggested that there is more water ice on the moon than we thought and that water might exist below the surface.

But what would life look like if it existed on the moon?

On Earth, the first traces of life date back to fossils of cyanobacteria ranging from 3.5 billion to 3.8 billion years old. Cyanobacteria are microscopic unicellular organisms that produce oxygen through photosynthesis.

Meteorites have already been found in meteorites, and it is believed that meteorites could have brought water to the Earth at the beginning of its formation. The researchers in this study propose that in the early days of our solar system, it is possible that meteorites that came into contact with the Earth and "exploded on the surface" also landed on the Moon

. According to the study, giant impacts and meteorite transfer between planets occurred.

If that was the case, the meteorites could have carried microbes to the moon, and these microbes could have lived in puddles of water on the surface.

"If liquid water and a significant atmosphere were present on the Moon at first for long periods of time, we think that the lunar surface would have been at least temporarily habitable," Schulze-Makuch said in a statement. a communiqué

. the moon is essentially dead and dry, its surface covered with dust. But if future missions return to the moon, researchers believe that recovery of samples in areas dating from volcanic activity could provide evidence of water or life.

Experiments simulating moon conditions 3 billion to 4 billion years ago. according to the study, the laboratories on Earth or the International Space Station could see if the microbes could survive.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & 2018 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.