Is There Life On The Moon?

[ramonmercado]

An interesting hypthesis. Can't find any suitable moon thread for it.

Is There Life On The Moon
http://www.moondaily.com/reports/Is_The ... n_999.html
At the moment, most attention on the polar regions is focused on the search for water. The quest for astrobiology shouldn't be forgotten in future missions.
by Morris Jones

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Dec 10, 2009

Scientists are looking for life in space. So far, they haven't found any life beyond Earth itself. We seem to be getting closer to discovering life somewhere else in our own solar system, with Mars, and some moons of Jupiter and Saturn being considered likely hiding spots for microbes.
Could there be life closer to our home planet? Probably not, but it's worth considering what could be lurking on the Moon.

We've discovered evidence that the polar regions of the Moon are the coldest natural places in the solar system. It's not the sort of environment that's friendly to life. Anything that tried to survive there would certainly freeze. But what could these conditions preserve? Could the Moon be a storehouse of chemicals and structures that have disappeared from other regions of the solar system?

Part of the reason why we explore space is not only to discover life, but to find the precursors to life. Outer space holds the records of what conditions were like when the Earth was young, and life could have been getting started on our planet.

If certain regions on the Moon have been frozen for eons, the Moon could be one of our most promising areas for biotic chemistry research.

This material could have been deposited by comets impacting the Moon, or it could have developed locally through chemical processes. Exactly what we will find, and how it got there, are mysteries waiting to be solved.

Substances awaiting discovery could include organic molecules, amino acids or even crude lipid membranes that resemble the walls of living cells. Even something as simple as checking the chirality, or "left or right-handedness", of the arrangement of atoms in a molecule, could be significant.

Some lifeforms will use one form of a molecule, but cannot absorb the "mirror image" of the same molecule, even though it's really the same chemical.

Getting to this material won't be easy. It will take more than a simple rock scoop or drill to retrieve it, and preserve the material inside. We will need sensors that can perform in-situ analyses of the soil and the volatiles it contains (such as water). Similar instruments have already operated on the surface of Mars.

Some material may even need to be transported in a refrigerated state all the way back to Earth, a challenging task for any mission planner. Keeping the material free from contamination will also be important.

At the moment, most attention on the polar regions is focused on the search for water. The quest for astrobiology shouldn't be forgotten in future missions.

Dr Morris Jones is the author of The New Moon Race, now available from Rosenberg Publishing (www.rosenbergpub.com.au).

 

[Dr_Baltar]

Getting to this material won't be easy. It will take more than a simple rock scoop or drill to retrieve it, and preserve the material inside.

Just as well there's a digger already up there.

 

[Bigfoot73]

Funny you should say that Doc, I was just thinking the same thing myself.
What do you think of this, ramon?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9nFPM2GJU4

 

[SHAYBARSABE]

Funny you should say that Doc, I was just thinking the same thing myself.
What do you think of this, ramon?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9nFPM2GJU4

Well, I'm not ramon, but I looked, anyway. Saw naught but a gray blob in a black background.

 

[Bigfoot73]

I've always thought it more black on a grey background.
Try the description on the 'Strange orange lights ...' thread in the Ufology section.

 

[James_H]

A different kind of life on the moon - I liked Howard Menger's thing that there were jungles and cities on the dark side of the moon, where no-one (at the time) could possibly see it...

 

[eburacum]

Even something as simple as checking the chirality, or "left or right-handedness", of the arrangement of atoms in a molecule, could be significant.

Some lifeforms will use one form of a molecule, but cannot absorb the "mirror image" of the same molecule, even though it's really the same chemical.

This might be the most important point. All life on Earth has a predisposition for one kind of chirality - but why do the organic compounds on Earth all have the same handedness?

Hypotheses include the 'first past-the-post' idea (only one type of organic life has emerged on Earth, with a distinctive chirality- any other kind of life cannot now compete)

...the polarised light theory (polarised light from relatively nearby stellar events encourage a particular chirality in organic molecules found in space- this influences the development of life on planets over a wide area, but is not universal)

...and the partity violation theory; certain weak force interactions violate the conservation of parity. Perhaps by some unexplained mechanism this imbalance affects the chirality of organic molecules. I find this last option interesting, although not completely convincing.