Illumination conditions of the south pole of the Moon derived using Kaguya topography

Bussey, D. B. J.; McGovern, J. A.; Spudis, P. D.; Neish, C. D.; Noda, Hirotomo; Ishihara, Yoshiaki; Sorensen, Søren-Aksel

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2010.03.028

Cited by 96 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…This relationship was first observed in the Chandrayaan-1 Mini-RF S-band data and now from the LRO Mini-RF data, it is evident in both S-band and X-band images ( Figure 5) and also in both left-and right-looking SAR directions (Figure 3) for both craters. The interiors of almost all of these anomalous craters are wholly or in large part in permanent sun shadow [e.g., Bussey et al, 2005;Bussey et al, 2010] and correlate with proposed locations of polar ice modeled on the basis of Lunar Prospector neutron spectrometer data [Elphic et al, 2007;Eke et al, 2009]. As discussed in Spudis et al [2010], these relations are consistent with deposits of water ice in these craters.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 55%

“…Moreover, water ice covered by a thin (few cm) layer of regolith will be stable even at surface temperatures higher than 104 K, which include large areas near the poles that receive occasional, partial, or grazing sunlight [Paige et al, 2010b]. The maps of Figure 11 show that of the 35 anomalous craters at the north pole, all occur within areas of permanent darkness as mapped from Kaguya topography and LRO wide-angle camera data [Bussey et al, 2010;McGovern et al, 2013]; 20 of them also are coincident with modeled locations of water ice from LP neutron data [Eke et al, 2009]. At the south pole, all 24 anomalous craters occur within permanent darkness and 14 of them are coincident with modeled locations of water ice from LP neutron data [Elphic et al, 2007].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Because this instrument had low resolution (pixels of 45 km or larger), it could not resolve the much smaller interiors of many of the permanently shadowed craters near the poles (Figure 11) [Bussey et al, 2005[Bussey et al, , 2010. However, forward-modeling by the Pixon method assumes that this hydrogen signal is associated with patches of ice within these dark craters [Elphic et al, 2007;Eke et al, 2009].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evidence for water ice on the Moon: Results for anomalous polar craters from the LRO Mini‐RF imaging radar

et al. 2013

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[1] The Mini-RF radar instrument on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft mapped both lunar poles in two different RF wavelengths (complete mapping at 12.6 cm S-band and partial mapping at 4.2 cm X-band) in two look directions, removing much of the ambiguity of previous Earth-and spacecraft-based radar mapping of the Moon's polar regions. The poles are typical highland terrain, showing expected values of radar cross section (albedo) and circular polarization ratio (CPR). Most fresh craters display high values of CPR in and outside the crater rim; the pattern of these CPR distributions is consistent with high levels of wavelength-scale surface roughness associated with the presence of block fields, impact melt flows, and fallback breccia. A different class of polar crater exhibits high CPR only in their interiors, interiors that are both permanently dark and very cold (less than 100 K). Application of scattering models developed previously suggests that these anomalously high-CPR deposits exhibit behavior consistent with the presence of water ice. If this interpretation is correct, then both poles may contain several hundred million tons of water in the form of relatively "clean" ice, all within the upper couple of meters of the lunar surface. The existence of significant water ice deposits enables both long-term human habitation of the Moon and the creation of a permanent cislunar space transportation system based upon the harvest and use of lunar propellant.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 55%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evidence for water ice on the Moon: Results for anomalous polar craters from the LRO Mini‐RF imaging radar

et al. 2013

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“…Combined with the rough surface topology, this small tilt angle provides widely varying illumination conditions at different locations on the Moon [102].…”

Section: Lighting Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Parts of the impact craters on the Moon's poles are never illuminated by the Sun, while other (nearby) areas of the lunar surface experience continuous sunlight for months at a time and may be illuminated for up to 89% of the year [102,103].…”

Section: Lighting Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design of a Deployable Structure for a Lunar Greenhouse Module

Vrakking

2013

43rd International Conference on Environmental Systems

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The permanently shadowed regions of dwarf planet Ceres

Schörghofer

Mazarico

Platz

et al. 2016

Geophysical Research Letters

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Ceres has only a small spin axis tilt (4°), and craters near its rotational poles can experience permanent shadow and trap volatiles, as is the case on Mercury and on Earth's Moon. Topography derived from stereo imaging by the Dawn spacecraft is used to calculate direct solar irradiance that defines the extent of the permanently shadowed regions (PSRs). In the northern polar region, PSRs cover ∼1800 km2 or 0.13% of the hemisphere, and most of the PSRs are cold enough to trap water ice over geological time periods. Based on modeling of the water exosphere, water molecules seasonally reside around the winter pole and ultimately an estimated 0.14% of molecules get trapped. Even for the lowest estimates of the amount of available water, this predicts accumulation rates in excess of loss rates, and hence, there should be fresh ice deposits in the cold traps.

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Illumination conditions of the south pole of the Moon derived using Kaguya topography

Cited by 96 publications

References 12 publications

Evidence for water ice on the Moon: Results for anomalous polar craters from the LRO Mini‐RF imaging radar

Evidence for water ice on the Moon: Results for anomalous polar craters from the LRO Mini‐RF imaging radar

Design of a Deployable Structure for a Lunar Greenhouse Module

The permanently shadowed regions of dwarf planet Ceres

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