Moon could hold water for lunar base, say scientists Craters on the Moon could hold ice to provide astronauts with a crucial water supply and make a lunar base possible.
By Sarah Knapton Last Updated: 9:14AM GMT 18 Dec 2008 Biggest and brightest full moon for 15 years will illuminate the night sky The next encounter with a moon this close and full will not be until November 2016 Photo: GETTY Scientists believe lunar ice could be hidden in the Moon's polar craters which are untouched by the sun's rays. The findings mean the moon could provide a source of water for astronauts using the satellite as a base for further exploration of the solar system. Doctor Vincent Eke of the Institute of Computational Cosmology at Durham University analysed data from a space probe sent to the moon by NASA in 1998. They found high concentrations of hydrogen in polar craters, where temperatures drop to lower than minus 338 degrees Farenheight - 170 degrees Celsius. The hydrogen could have combined with oxygen present in moon rock to make water. Dr Eke said if the hydrogen was present as lunar ice there could 200,000 million litres of water in the top metre of the moon. In total there could be enough to fill Northumberland's Kielder Water, the largest man-made reservoir in Northern Europe. Dr Eke said the moon had the potential to keep water ice in a stable condition for "billions of years", provided that it is untouched by sunlight. But the scientist also warned that there could be no water ice on the moon at all. Instead, hydrogen could take the form of protons being fired from the sun into the dusty lunar surface. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/3816674/Moon-could-hold-water-for-lunar-base-say-scientists.html
