Lunar polar ice deposits: scientific and utilization objectives of the Lunar Ice Discovery Mission proposal.
The Clementine mission has revived interest in the possibility that ice exists in shadowed craters near the lunar poles. Theoretically, the problem is complex, with several possible sources of water (meteoroid, asteroid, comet impact), several possible loss mechanisms (impact vaporization, sputtering, photoionization), and burial by meteorite impact. Opinions of modelers have ranged from no ice to several times 10(16) g of ice in the cold traps. Clementine bistatic radar data have been interpreted in favor of the presence of ice, while Arecibo radar data do not confirm its presence. The Lunar Prospector mission, planned to be flown in the fall of 1997, could gather new evidence for the existence of ice. If ice is present, both scientific and utilitarian objectives would be addressed by a lunar polar rover, such as that proposed to the NASA Discovery program, but not selected. The lunar polar rover remains the best way to understand the distribution and characteristics of lunar polar ice.
Duke
Michael B
MB
Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, Texas 77058, USA.
D003081:Cold Climate; D005118:Extraterrestrial Environment; D055593:Geological Phenomena; D005844:Geology; D007053:Ice / Q000032:analysis*; D019110:Meteoroids; D016081:Moon; D013026:Space Flight / Q000295:instrumentation*; D018531:Spacecraft / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014867:Water / Q000032:analysis; D014893:Weightlessness
D007053:Ice; D014867:Water