Ancient Moon shadowed craters may house the most water ice
TL;DR
New analysis using Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter temperature data and thermal models shows water ice is patchy and concentrated in the Moon’s oldest, longest-shadowed southern-polar craters, suggesting lunar water arrived gradually over about 3–3.5 billion years via multiple small impacts or interior outgassing rather than a single event; this enhances the case for ice mapping and utilization in upcoming Artemis-era missions.
- The moon's oldest and darkest craters could be hiding the most water ice. That's good news for future astronauts Space
- A New Study Narrows the Search for Water on the Moon Universe Today
- Observational constraints on the history of lunar polar ice accumulation Nature
- Water buried on Moon for billions of yrs is stable, reveals Chandrayaan-2 data | The study was published in the journal Nature | Inshorts Inshorts
- Water on the moon? New study narrows down the most likely locations University of Colorado Boulder
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