Launched on January 6th [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…], NASA's Lunar Prospector [
http://lunar.arc.na…] spacecraft has been exploring the Moon with instruments designed to sense global properties [
http://lunar.arc.na…] while orbiting pole-to-pole, 63 miles above the lunar surface. Now over half way through its primary mission, impressive science results include [
http://lunar.arc.na…] a much-needed precision gravity map [
http://lunar.arc.na…] of the lunar surface, global maps of elemental composition, the detection of mini-magnetospheres [
http://lunar.arc.na…] related to large impact sites, and evidence pointing toward a small iron-rich lunar core. But perhaps the most spectacular recent announcement [
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.g…] has underscored Prospector's earlier block-buster - the detection of substantial water-ice [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] at both the North and South lunar poles. An analysis of data [
http://lunar.arc.na…] collected so far is consistent with near-pure water ice deposits - the residue of cometary impacts - buried beneath as much as 18 inches of dry dusty regolith [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. And the estimates now suggest 10 times more water in each polar region [
http://www.soest.ha…] than previously thought! The small Prospector spacecraft carries no cameras for lunar imaging, but the Moon is relatively well photographed. This detailed, color-enhanced [
http://photojournal…cgi-bin/PIAGenCatalo gPage.pl?PIA00405 ] nearside mosaic [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] was produced from images taken by the Galileo spacecraft as it passed the Moon in December of 1992.
Explanation
Launched on January 6th [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…], NASA's Lunar Prospector [
http://lunar.arc.na…] spacecraft has been exploring the Moon with instruments designed to sense global properties [
http://lunar.arc.na…] while orbiting pole-to-pole, 63 miles above the lunar surface. Now over half way through its primary mission, impressive science results include [
http://lunar.arc.na…] a much-needed precision gravity map [
http://lunar.arc.na…] of the lunar surface, global maps of elemental composition, the detection of mini-magnetospheres [
http://lunar.arc.na…] related to large impact sites, and evidence pointing toward a small iron-rich lunar core. But perhaps the most spectacular recent announcement [
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.g…] has underscored Prospector's earlier block-buster - the detection of substantial water-ice [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] at both the North and South lunar poles. An analysis of data [
http://lunar.arc.na…] collected so far is consistent with near-pure water ice deposits - the residue of cometary impacts - buried beneath as much as 18 inches of dry dusty regolith [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. And the estimates now suggest 10 times more water in each polar region [
http://www.soest.ha…] than previously thought! The small Prospector spacecraft carries no cameras for lunar imaging, but the Moon is relatively well photographed. This detailed, color-enhanced [
http://photojournal…cgi-bin/PIAGenCatalo gPage.pl?PIA00405 ] nearside mosaic [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] was produced from images taken by the Galileo spacecraft as it passed the Moon in December of 1992.
Explanation
