Charles Q. Choi opines that the new NASA aerial map of uranium on the moon indicates the lunar surface to be a poor source of the radioactive stuff, [however, this is not sufficient evidence to rule out that below the surface uranium ore bodies are not present. Such a surface anomaly indicates to professional uranium geologists that uranium is present on the Moon and justifies follow-up exploration. From an academic point of view], the presence of uranium could help in determining how the moon formed. [Choi makes an unusual declaration that this new moon uranium map dampens hopes of a nuclear power industry on the lunar surface, but it is obvious that he and his sources are ignorant of the facts involved.] "Forget things like uranium mines or nuclear reactors," said cosmochemist Robert Reedy, a member of the Kaguya science team and a senior scientist at the Tucson-based Planetary Science Institute. "The concentrations are very far from being of commercial levels."[Such comments are odd even coming from an academic, and even suggests another agenda is in play here. The fact is uranium is now known to be present on the Moon, whether it occurs as economic ore bodies remains to be seen].
[But Choi goes on to state] that proponents of lunar bases and future lunar colonies have long pointed to many of the moons minerals, along with water, as being useful to support such efforts [these include rare-earth minerals and helium-3 (the latter of which bound up within titanium minerals)]. Even neon has been identified in the this atmosphere of the Moon.
The new map was created using data from Japan's Kaguya spacecraft, which launched in 2007. The spacecraft found uranium on the moon, along with other radioactive elements [likely thorium], with its advanced gamma-ray spectrometer. Kaguya crashed into the moon's surface at the end of its mission last year. [Choi even goes on again by stating that] the new moon uranium map clearly shows the element is not abundant on the moon. In moon rock, it appears in quantities less than in many Earth granites.[The fact is the rocks so far sampled are basic in nature such as related to extrusives like gabbros, and other extrusive rocks].
Still, by analyzing the ratio between the naturally radioactive elements uranium and thorium scientists may yield new insights into the formation and evolution of the moon's surface. In the new map, significant variations in the ratio between uranium and thorium were revealed.[This probably means that various geological environments were present when the rocks formed]. For instance, average uranium abundances could differ by some 60 percent between the east and west highlands on the far side of the moon, while thorium abundances between those areas varied only 10 percent. These new findings suggest the formation of the lunar crust might not be as uniform as had long been thought.[Of course, no one said that it should be the same. When you add all the material added by asteroids and comets impacting the Moon's surface, one would expect differences].
"The Kaguya gamma-ray spectrometer team wants to finish getting maps for as many elements as possible before drawing detailed conclusions on the Moon's history," Reedy said. The scientists detailed their findings online May 20 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.[Why didn't Choi include a link to these findings].
[All in all a curios article by Choi. This could be explained by Choi's gross ignorance of the terminology of geology, or that he has been misled by his sources for an even more curious potential reason involving other agendi. We'll do some additional research on this matter].
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