Lunar Ice Comes in Blocks

[n2doc]

Massive chunks of frozen water are detected within the moon's perennially shadowed polar craters.

By Larry O'Hanlon | Mon Apr 19, 2010 04:43 AM ET


New data from an Indian probe strongly suggests there are massive chunks of water ice hidden in some of the moon's perennially shadowed polar craters.

The source of the six to 10-foot (one to three-meter) thick ice blocks may be comets that smashed into the moon eons ago, as well as an otherworldly lunar water cycle.

If the measurements are correct, the ice found just in the north pole area amounts to perhaps 600 million cubic meters. That's about two-thirds of a cubic kilometer of water -- an ample supply for spacecraft to use as fuel, should humans ever return to the moon and set up shop, according to Paul Spudis of the Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston.

"The amounts are incredible," said Spudis, lead author on a paper in the latest issue of Geophysical Research Letters on the discovery.

One thing that appears to make the water ice possible is the surprisingly low temperatures in these forever sunless craters. Some are only 25 to 30 degrees Kelvin (-415 to -406 Fahrenheit), which makes it impossible for any water trapped in these places to escape.

"They are extremely cold," said Spudis. "Colder than the surface of Pluto."

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