Astronomy More ice on the moon
According to researchers, there could be frozen water at a depth of just ten centimetres in many regions at the poles of the moon. Even where the sun shines.
09.03.2025, 06:30
SDA
This is the conclusion reached by a research team from India after analyzing data from the lunar probe "Chandrayaan-3". The space probe's lander had examined the temperatures in the lunar soil and discovered surprisingly strong fluctuations, as the scientists report in the journal "Communications Earth & Environment".
"Mining ice is a crucial step in maintaining manned stations on the moon," writes the team led by Durga Prasad from the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad. Not only could drinking water be obtained from the ice, but also oxygen for breathing and hydrogen and oxygen as fuel for spacecraft.
Ice even in eternal shadow
At the poles of the moon, there are numerous areas within craters that lie in eternal shadow. Ice has presumably accumulated there over millions of years. This is why the poles are considered an attractive location for manned lunar stations. The results of the investigations by Prasad and his team now make the polar regions even more attractive.
The landing probe "Vikram" from "Chandrayaan-3" touched down on the edge of the south polar lunar region on August 23, 2023. On board: the ChaSTE experiment, which - for the first time since the Apollo missions in the 1970s - was able to take temperature measurements in the upper layers of the lunar soil.
Very different temperatures in the soil
When evaluating the data, the Indian team came across a surprise: at a depth of ten centimetres, the maximum temperature in the lunar soil was 82 degrees Celsius, which is 24 degrees higher than expected based on the "Apollo" data.
What's more, another measurement at a distance of just one meter showed a maximum daily temperature that was 23 degrees lower. The researchers had not expected such small-scale fluctuations in temperature.
However, they quickly came up with an explanation: while the second measurement took place on flat ground, the lunar soil at the location of the first measurement was inclined six degrees towards the sun and was therefore able to heat up more.
Model calculates further temperatures
The inclination of the lunar soil therefore appears to play a previously underestimated role in the temperature directly below the lunar surface, the team writes. The researchers developed a model to calculate the temperatures as a function of the inclination of the ground.
The result surprised them once again: in the polar regions, an inclination of just 14 degrees to the sun is enough to cause the temperature to permanently drop below freezing at a depth of ten centimetres. Ice could therefore remain there.
Humans to enter the South Pole region soon
The conclusion: frozen water could exist not only in the eternally shaded craters, but also just below the surface in large areas with sufficient inclination - and here, as the researchers emphasize, the ice would also be much easier to remove.
These are good prospects for the planned "Artemis" missions, which are to take astronauts to the moon in a few years' time. The first landing is planned for the South Pole region.
