Chandrayaan detects ice on Moon

Scientists have detected more than 40 ice-filled craters in the moon`s North Pole.

Washington: Scientists have detected more
than 40 ice-filled craters in the moon`s North Pole using data
from a NASA radar that flew aboard India`s Chandrayaan-I.

NASA`s Mini-SAR instrument, lightweight, synthetic
aperture radar, found more than 40 small craters with water
ice. The craters range in size from 2 to 15 km in diameter.

The finding would give future missions a new target to
further explore and exploit, a NASA statement said, adding it
is estimated that there could be at least 600 million metric
tons of water ice in the craters.

"The emerging picture from the multiple measurements and
resulting data of the instruments on lunar missions indicates
that water creation, migration, deposition and retention are
occurring on the moon," Paul Spudis, principal investigator of
the Mini-SAR experiment at the Lunar and Planetary Institute,
said yesterday.

The new discoveries show that the moon is an even more
interesting and attractive scientific, exploration and
operational destination than previously thought, he said.

Aboard Chandrayaan-I, the Mini-SAR mapped the moon`s
permanently-shadowed polar craters that are not visible from
the earth. The radar uses the polarisation properties of
reflected radio waves to characterise surface properties.

According to the findings which are being published in
the latest issue of the Geophysical Research Letters journal,
results from the mapping showed deposits having radar
characteristics similar to ice.

"After analysing 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,"
Jason Crusan, program executive for the Mini-RF Program for
NASA`s Space Operations Mission Directorate, said.

The space agency said these results are consistent with
recent findings of other NASA instruments and adds to growing
scientific understanding of the multiple forms of water found
on the moon.

The agency`s Moon Mineralogy Mapper discovered water
molecules in the moon`s polar regions, while water vapour was
detected by NASA`s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing
Satellite.

Mini-SAR and Moon Mineralogy Mapper are two of 11
instruments on India`s first unmanned mission to the moon --
Chandrayaan-I.

PTI

Zee News App: Read latest news of India and world, bollywood news, business updates, cricket scores, etc. Download the Zee news app now to keep up with daily breaking news and live news event coverage.