Ice at the Lunar South Pole
Explanation:
Ice on the Moon?
The prospecting Clementine spacecraft
may well have discovered it.
In 1994,
Clementine spent 70 days in lunar orbit mapping
the
Moon's surface.
Shown above is a dramatically detailed composite view
centered on the Lunar South Pole - constructed from 1500 Clementine images.
This area contains part of
the South Pole-Aitken impact basin,
the largest known crater in the solar system,
probably caused by the impact of
a
comet or
asteroid.
The depth of the basin and crater walls at the Lunar South Pole create
the permanent shadow region
visible above - hypothesised to be
large and cold enough to trap water brought to the moon by
cometary impacts as surface ice.
Indeed,
a recent analysis of Clementine data from this area
has found a signature of water ice.
Water on the Moon presents exciting possibilities as resource for
future lunar exploration.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
