WATER: How valuable is it?

 

 

Water on bodies in our solar system: There is more than most people realize.

Written by George Ray Arruda

June 19, 2014

 

Our solar system is a beautiful mix of planets and moons whirling around our beautiful sun which cast its glow out into the blackness sharing its warmth and light. Our small blue orb covered with clouds and vast oceans contains astounding amounts of water, but it does not have a monopoly on water in our solar system.

“The History of Humanity will be written in the stars, or not at all.” Geroge Ray Arruda

 

1. Mercury has frozen water ice at its pole.

2. Venus has water in its atmosphere.

3. The Moon has water on its poles.

4. Mars has frozen water on its poles, and there is a strong implication by surface features there water occasionally flows, or has flowed there in recent times.

5. Jupiter Has water in the white bands which make up its surface features.

6. Jupiter’s moon IO has a vast amount of water either frozen, or in liquid form.

7. Europa a moon of Jupiter has more water than all of planet Earth with a possible ocean that is 60 miles in depth that has pressures no greater than our oceans here on Earth.

8. Clouds a bit lower in level on Saturn could possibly have significant amounts of water.

9. Titan a moon of Saturn may have water as well, but certainly has large amounts of water ice.

10. Enceladus another of Saturn’s moons also has water ice in vast amounts, as well as liquid water.

11. Calisto is another of Jupiter’s Moons and could possibly be 40% water ice.

12. Tethys a moon of Saturn is almost entirely water ice, with a strong possibility of subsurface water.

13. Dione another of Saturn’s moons has up to 40% of its mass in water ice or water.

14. Rhea, yet another one of Saturn’s moons also has ⅔ of its mass in water ice or water.

15. Uranus has some, but not much water in its atmosphere, but may be “icy’ near its core.

16. Neptune is very similar in structure to Uranus having “Icy” materials at its core.

17. Pluto (Still a planet to me, bite me NASA) is made of mostly water ice.

18. Ceres (Dwarf Planet) has “eruptions” of water from its surface.

 

When we look around at the place in which we live, there are wonders everywhere. As information from space exploration filters out into the general populace, it becomes ever more evident that our solar system needs a much closer look.

Water off planet is a valuable tool for further exploration because you can separate the components and utilize the parts for fuel, and oxygen for us to breathe. Then there is the possible life that may exist in or near the sources of water. The moon of Jupiter, Europa has more water on it than all of planet Earth’s oceans. The oceans there is 60 miles deep, but due to its small core, the gravitational force of the water has only the pressure of our oceans at its deepest points. That is an astounding amount of water that has been there for a very long time. That is only one location, and there are many sources that we need to look further into.

 

“The History of Humanity will be written in the stars, or not at all.” Geroge Ray Arruda

 

Sources:

 

http://www.space.com/24366-dwarf-planet-ceres-water-ice-volcanoes.html

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/yss/display.cfm?ThemeID=23

Images from NASA, http://www.forbes.com/

Images provided by JPL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/

Cover photo provided by NASA :

 

About George Ray Arruda

George was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, but spent his formative years around Monterey Bay, California. Throughout his life George has worn many hats; from wild land firefighter, to working for the Dept. Homeland Security’s TSA.  However, throughout his life George always kept his love of writing alive, which began back in 1978. His varied background and wide ranging interests have provided a platform from which to create works of fiction and nonfiction.