NASA announces discovery of ice in moon’s polar craters
Scientists could soon be using ice to further space exploration.
A recent discovery of solid ice patches on the moon will be a useful tool for scientists. “You can use it to further human exploration on the moon or you could use it to create rocket fuel,” said Heather Fairweather, associate producer at Charles Hayden Planetarium in Boston.
Using the ice to create fuel would lighten the load on spacecrafts. “The less stuff you have to bring, the better,” Fairweather said. She added that creating fuel on the moon would help to establish it as a base for future space missions. The ice patches are scattered, with most of it forming in lunar craters at the moon’s southern pole.
“It’s something we expected for a while but now there’s direct proof,” Fairweather said. At the northern pole, the patches are less dense and more sparsely spread. This water distribution could help scientists learn more about the formation of the moon and the earth.
The data was collected using NASA’s moon mineralogy mapper, which is designed to find solid ice on the moon. Most of the newfound ice is in the shadows of the moon’s craters because sunlight seldom reaches those areas.
NASA will investigate the discovery along with how the ice got there and its impact on the surrounding environment. However, Fairweather said this definitely does not indicate the presence of life on the moon.
“Even though we think we know a lot about the moon, there is still more to discover,” she said. “This goes to show that there’s more to learn about our closest neighbor.”