{"id":10644,"date":"2023-12-01T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=10644"},"modified":"2023-11-17T16:36:24","modified_gmt":"2023-11-17T16:36:24","slug":"scientists-suspect-theres-ice-hiding-on-the-moon-and-a-host-of-missions-from-the-us-and-beyond-are-searching-for-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/scientists-suspect-theres-ice-hiding-on-the-moon-and-a-host-of-missions-from-the-us-and-beyond-are-searching-for-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists suspect there\u2019s ice hiding on the Moon, and a host of missions from the US and beyond are searching for\u00a0it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n \n
\n The stark landscape of the Moon as viewed by the Apollo 12 astronauts on their return to Earth.\n NASA \/ The Planetary Society<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\nPaul Hayne<\/a>, University of Colorado Boulder<\/a><\/em><\/span>\n\n

Building a space station on the Moon might seem like something out of a science fiction movie, but each new lunar mission is bringing that idea closer to reality. Scientists are homing in on potential lunar ice reservoirs in permanently shadowed regions, or PSRs. These are key to setting up any sort of sustainable lunar infrastructure. <\/p>\n\n

In late August 2023, India\u2019s Chandrayaan-3<\/a> lander touched down on the lunar surface in the south polar region, which scientists suspect may harbor ice<\/a>. This landing marked a significant milestone not only for India but for the scientific community at large.<\/p>\n\n

For planetary scientists like me<\/a>, measurements from instruments onboard Chandrayaan-3\u2019s Vikram lander and its small, six-wheeled rover Pragyan<\/a> provide a tantalizing up-close glimpse of the parts of the Moon most likely to contain ice. Earlier observations have shown ice is present in some permanently shadowed regions, but estimates vary widely regarding the amount, form and distribution of these ice deposits.<\/p>\n\n

Polar ice deposits<\/h2>\n\n

My team at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics<\/a> has a goal of understanding where water on the Moon came from. Comets or asteroids crashing into the Moon are options<\/a>, as are volcanic activity<\/a> and solar wind. <\/p>\n\n

Each of these events leaves behind a distinctive chemical fingerprint, so if we can see those fingerprints, we might be able to trace them to the source of water. For example, sulfur is expected in higher amounts in lunar ice deposits if volcanic activity rather than comets created the ice.<\/p>\n\n

Like water, sulfur is a \u201cvolatile\u201d element<\/a> on the Moon, because on the lunar surface it\u2019s not very stable. It\u2019s easily vaporized and lost to space. Given its temperamental nature, sulfur is expected to accumulate only in the colder parts of the Moon. <\/p>\n\n

While the Vikram lander didn\u2019t land in a permanently shadowed region, it measured the temperature at a high southern latitude of 69.37\u00b0S and was able to identify sulfur<\/a> in soil grains on the lunar surface. The sulfur measurement<\/a> is intriguing because sulfur may point toward the source of the Moon\u2019s water.<\/p>\n\n

So, scientists can use temperature as a way of finding where volatiles like these may end up. Temperature measurements from Chandrayaan-3 could allow scientists to test models of volatile stability and figure out how recently the sulfur may have accumulated at the landing site.<\/p>\n\n

\n \"A<\/a>\n
\n Some dark craters on the Moon, indicated here in blue, never get light. Scientists think some of these permanently shadowed regions could contain ice.<\/span>\n NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n

Tools for discovery<\/h2>\n\n

Vikram and Pragyan are the newest in a series of spacecraft that have helped scientists study water on the Moon. NASA\u2019s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter<\/a> launched in 2009 and has spent the past several years observing the Moon from orbit. I\u2019m a co-investigator on LRO, and I use its data<\/a> to study the distribution, form and abundance of water on the lunar poles.<\/p>\n\n

Both India\u2019s Chandrayaan-1 orbiter and LRO have allowed my colleagues and me<\/a> to use ultraviolet and near-infrared observations to identify ice in the permanently shadowed regions by measuring the chemical fingerprints of water. We\u2019ve definitively detected water ice<\/a> in some of these regions inside the coldest shadows at the lunar poles, but we\u2019re still not sure why the ice isn\u2019t more widespread.<\/p>\n\n

\n \"Chandrayaan-3<\/a>\n
\n Chandrayaan-3\u2019s Pragyan rover traveled 328 feet (100 meters) and measured the chemistry of the lunar soil.<\/span>\n ISRO<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n

On Mercury<\/a>, by contrast, the permanently shadowed regions are practically overflowing with ice<\/a>. For several years, scientists have recognized the need to get down on the surface and make more detailed measurements of lunar volatiles. With its sulfur detections, the Vikram lander has now taken the first tentative steps as part of a larger exploration program.<\/p>\n\n

Future lunar missions<\/h2>\n\n

NASA has its sights set on the lunar south pole. Leading up to the Artemis III<\/a> mission to deploy astronauts to investigate ice on the surface, the Commercial Lunar Payloads Services program<\/a> will send multiple landers and rovers to search for ice starting later in 2023<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n

While uncertainty surrounds the timeline of Artemis launches, the first crewed mission, Artemis II<\/a>, is on track for a late 2024 or early 2025 launch, with a looping trajectory passing behind the Moon\u2019s far side and back to Earth.<\/p>\n\n

The Lunar Compact Infrared Imaging System, of which I\u2019m the principal investigator, is an infrared camera that will take temperature measurements and study the surface composition of the Moon. <\/p>\n\n

Dubbed L-CIRiS<\/a>, this camera recently underwent its final review before delivery to NASA, and the completed flight instrument will be prepared to launch on a commercial lander in late 2026. <\/p>\n\n

Prior to L-CIRiS, the VIPER rover mission<\/a> is planned to launch in late 2024<\/a> to the lunar south polar region, where it will carry instruments to search for ice in micro-cold traps<\/a>. These tiny shadows, some no larger than a penny, are hypothesized to contain a significant amount of water and are more accessible than the larger PSRs.<\/p>\n\n

One long-term goal of L-CIRiS and NASA\u2019s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program is to find a suitable place for a long-term, sustainable lunar station. Astronauts could stay at this station, potentially similar to the one at McMurdo station in Antarctica, but it would need to be somewhat self-sufficient to be economically viable. Water is extremely expensive<\/a> to ship to the Moon, hence locating the station near ice reservoirs is a must.<\/p>\n\n

\n \"An<\/a>\n
\n A lunar settlement might be similar to McMurdo Station in Antarctica.<\/span>\n Gaelen Marsden\/Wikimedia Commons<\/a>, CC BY-SA<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n

During the Artemis III mission<\/a>, NASA astronauts will use the information gathered by the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program and other missions, including Chandrayaan-3, to assess the best locations to collect samples. Chandrayaan-3 and L-CIRiS\u2019s measurements of temperature and composition are like those that will be needed for Artemis to succeed. Cooperation among space agencies young and old is thus becoming a key feature of a long-term, sustainable human presence on the Moon.\"The<\/p>\n\n

Paul Hayne<\/a>, Assistant Professor of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The stark landscape of the Moon as viewed by the Apollo 12 astronauts on their return to Earth.…\n","protected":false},"author":670,"featured_media":10607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[1140,196,474],"class_list":{"0":"post-10644","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-lunar-ice","9":"tag-moon","10":"tag-the-conversation","11":"cs-entry","12":"cs-video-wrap"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/670"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10644"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10645,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10644\/revisions\/10645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}