{"id":392093,"date":"2010-03-04T16:03:42","date_gmt":"2010-03-04T21:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.disinfo.com\/?p=23979"},"modified":"2010-03-04T16:03:42","modified_gmt":"2010-03-04T21:03:42","slug":"tons-of-water-ice-found-on-the-moon%e2%80%99s-north-pole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/392093","title":{"rendered":"Tons of Water Ice Found on the Moon\u2019s North Pole"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FullThanks to Coast to Coast AM<\/a> for posting this article to their Twitter<\/a> feed. By Tariq Malik for Space.com<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Vast pockets of water ice numbering in the millions of tons have been discovered at the north pole of the moon, opening up another region of the lunar surface for potential exploration by astronauts and unmanned probes, NASA announced Monday.<\/p>\n

A NASA radar instrument on an Indian moon probe found evidence of at least 600 million metric tons of water ice spread out on the bottom of craters at the lunar north pole. It is yet another supply of lunar water ice, a vital resource that could be mined to produce oxygen or rocket fuel to support a future moon base<\/a>, NASA officials said.<\/p>\n

More than 40 craters ranging from 1 mile (2 km) to 9 miles (15 km) wide were found harboring the water ice, which was detected using NASA\u2019s Mini-SAR radar instrument on India\u2019s Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter. The instrument is also known as Mini-RF in NASA parlance.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter analyzing the data, our science team determined a strong indication of water ice, a finding which will give future missions a new target to further explore and exploit,\u201d said Jason Crusan, program executive for the Mini-RF Program for NASA\u2019s space operations program in Washington, D.C., in a statement\u2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

[continues at Space.com<\/a>]<\/p>\n

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