The new data collected by NASA’s spacecraft may bring space agencies closer to establishing the first base outside Earth.
According to Sci-News, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has discovered ice deposits larger than scientists previously imagined in the “permanently shadowed regions” around the Moon’s South Pole.
Images captured by NASA show many permanently shadowed regions marked in blue – (Photo: NASA)
Permanently Shadowed Regions (PSR) typically occur in low-lying areas near the Moon’s poles, where sunlight never reaches.
As a result, these areas have remained cold for billions of years, which has helped preserve more ice molecules than we previously thought, accumulating into large deposits.
Dr. Timothy McClanahan, a researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, stated that their modeling and analysis indicate that the highest concentrations of ice are expected to be found near the coldest locations of the PSR, where temperatures can drop to -198 degrees Celsius.
These are the dark slopes leading down to the South Pole.
They are unable to accurately determine the volume of the PSR ice deposits or whether they are buried beneath dry regolith; however, it is estimated that up to 5 liters of ice may be contained within each cubic meter of near-surface sediment.
This is just the initial discovery.
The LRO carries the Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND), an instrument that has helped scientists identify these ice deposits and will continue to aid them in understanding the properties of what lies beneath the surface in the shadowed regions.
The identification of large ice deposits is good news for NASA as well as many other space agencies around the world.
For a long time, many space agencies have sought to establish the first base off Earth on the Moon, where onsite water—from ice deposits—will serve as a vital resource and contribute to fuel for spacecraft and other equipment.
