NASA Finds Major Ice Source In Moon Crater

coondoggie writes with news that a NASA survey of the moon's Shackleton crater by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has provided data indicating as much as 22% of the crater's surface may be covered in ice. "The team of NASA and university scientists using laser light from LRO's laser altimeter examined the floor of Shackleton crater. They found the crater's floor is brighter than those of other nearby craters, which is consistent with the presence of small amounts of ice. ... The spacecraft mapped Shackleton crater with unprecedented detail, using a laser to illuminate the crater's interior and measure its albedo or natural reflectance. The laser light measures to a depth comparable to its wavelength, or about a micron. That represents a millionth of a meter, or less than one ten-thousandth of an inch. The team also used the instrument to map the relief of the crater's terrain based on the time it took for laser light to bounce back from the moon's surface. The longer it took, the lower the terrain's elevation. ... The crater, named after the Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton, is two miles deep and more than 12 miles wide. Like several craters at the moon's south pole, the small tilt of the lunar spin axis means Shackleton crater's interior is permanently dark and therefore extremely cold."

Comments

try this:

[woodworx]

we should shoot a water cannon at that crater and store some frozen water for later use!

Dark Side

[SJHillman]

"Shackleton crater's interior is permanently dark"

So that's the dark side of the moon that Pink Floyd was talking about

umm...

[Terracotta122]

Isn't there ice everywhere in the solar system? What next? Big Buck Bunny lives on mars?

Mrs. Source relieved.

[MRe_nl]

The Major had been missing for a week.

Ok

[busyqth]

So we know where the bar goes.
What's the next most important item? Life support?

Finally don't have to go to arctic to get ice

[shoppa]

Finally, we no longer have to send men on a hazardous trip to the arctic every time we need more ice.

There is no dark side of the moon, really.

[Anonymous Coward]

Matter of fact, it's all dark.

Re:Fascinating!

[Anonymous Coward]

I always thought our Moon was a good place for a moonbase. Not to sure why we'd put a moonbase on anything besides a moon really.

An easier to understand number

[mfwitten]

That represents a millionth of a meter, or less than one ten-thousandth of an inch.

For those of you who are having trouble visualizing this: That's about a little more than 9 billionths of a football field (on the short number scale, of course).