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NASA Estimates 600 Million Metric Tons of Water Ice At Moon's North Pole
After analyzing data from a radar device aboard last year's Indian Chandrayaan-1 mission to the Moon, NASA scientists have found what they estimate to be 600 million metric tons of water ice in craters around the Moon's north pole.
"Numerous craters near the poles of the Moon have interiors that are in permanent sun shadow. These areas are very cold and water ice is stable there essentially indefinitely. Fresh craters show high degrees of surface roughness (high circular polarization ratio) both inside and outside the crater rim, caused by sharp rocks and block fields that are distributed over the entire crater area. However, Mini-SAR has found craters near the north pole that have high CPR inside, but not outside their rims. This relation suggests that the high CPR is not caused by roughness, but by some material that is restricted within the interiors of these craters. We interpret this relation as consistent with water ice present in these craters. The ice must be relatively pure and at least a couple of meters thick to give this signature."
Could this be a new source of funding for moon exploration?
That's great they found water, but can someone convert it into non-commie units? I want my water measured in hogsheads, dammit!
SSC
Our handsomest politicians have come up with a cheap, last minute way to combat global warming. We need to start mining this shit so we can drop a giant ice cube into the ocean now and again. Of course, because the greenhouse gasses are still building up, it will take more and more ice each time, thus solving the problem once and for all.
But in all seriousness, if you dropped a 600 million metric ton ice cub into the ocean, what would happen?
No one cares what your captcha was
Houston TX, USA
If futurama taught me anything.. its that this effectively solves global warming. All we need now is to hire planet express to go the moon, cut some ice out, and drop it in the ocean. Done and done.
So basically, -1 troll/offtopic is really slashdots way of saying "I hate that you thought of something before me."
The water comes back in the form of grain, to feed the starving masses here on earth. The grain is put into metal cases and launched downhill via magnetic catapult.
Send prisoners up, they mine the ice, grow the food and send it down. Very nice system for earth until the loonies revolt.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
Can you step back and look at the big picture?
1) Going to the moon has what tangible short _or_ long term benefit to human kind that you can articulate now?
I'd argue you can't really. The science learned will be invaluable to certain fields, but right now it's a gamble at best. Yes, something good will come of it, granted, but what and when? Noone knows. I'm not saying it's not worth it, I'm suggesting there are more tangible things that can be done with money, now.
2) "Spreading the wealth around" is exactly what we need to do.
Bill Gates is doing a good thing for humanity and helping out in fields such as medicine (malaria), he even donates money to PBS, etc for education among other things. Can you say the same for the other billionaires on the planet? Probably not.
Look, the truth of the matter is, we have enough problems here at home (both in the US and in the world) that need to be addressed and fixed before we spend billions upon billions of dollars on building things on other planets.
Healthcare in the US is an absolute mess. I have friends that are downright uninsureable. One, due to cancer while he wasn't covered, he's absolutely boned. Noone will touch him with a stick let alone their money.
If that means my taxes go up 5%, so be it. If something happens to me, my wife, kids, parents, etc, I want to know they will be taken care of and not just looked at in terms of profitability.
Capitalism works to a certain extent. Human health is _not_ one of them.
The short of it is, I'm a science guy and I can see the benefit in taking money from pure science and potentially moving it to the health of our citizens.
I'm pretty well off as I live quite comfortably but I know many who aren't and they should have the same health care as I do. End of story.
* Yes, I took the healthcare "socialist" stance with this post. It is something I believe in and can articulate with personal experience.