One giant step towards a base on the moon

Dec 18 2008 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

RESEARCH led by a North East expert could be one giant step towards a manned base on the moon.

Astrophysicists, led by Dr Vincent Eke, in the Institute for Computational Cosmology at Durham University, have discovered where they believe would be the best place to find ice on the moon.

They say if frozen water exists, then it is most likely to be found near to the moon’s poles in craters that are permanently shaded from the sun.

If ice is present, then the researchers say it could potentially provide a water source for the eventual establishment of a manned base on the moon.

And a moon base could serve as a platform for exploration into the further reaches of the solar system. Their findings are based on a new computer analysis of data from the Lunar Prospector, a space probe sent to the moon in 1998 by Nasa.

The researchers showed that hydrogen on the moon is concentrated into polar craters where temperatures are colder than -170C. Hydrogen, together with the oxygen that is abundant within moon rock, is a key element in making water.

The findings show that if the hydrogen is present as water ice, then the average concentration in some craters corresponds to 10 grams of ice in each kilogram of moon rock. “If the hydrogen is present as water ice, then our results imply that the top metre of the moon holds about enough water to fill up Kielder Water in Northumberland,” said Dr Eke.

Kielder holds 200,000 million litres of water, making it the largest man-made reservoir in Northern Europe.

“Water ice should be stable for billions of years on the moon provided that it receives no sunlight,” said Dr Eke. The results will help Nasa’s soon-to-be launched Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) missions.