Up To 22% Ice In Shackleton Crater Surface Material According To LRO Laser Altimeter Data; LOLA Measured Albedo Of 3.2km-Deep, 19.3km-Wide Crater; New Map Shows 3B-Year-Old South Pole Crater Relatively Unscathed Since Formation, Brighter / Wetter Than Other Nearby Craters; Researchers Took Over 5M Measurements Of Permanently Shadowed Crater From Over 5K Orbital Tracks
Image Credit: NASA
US$250M Mission With U-Shaped Canada Rover, Canada Excavation Tools, US Science Instruments Destined For Moon South Pole; KSC In Situ Utilization Project Manager William Larson Says RESOLVE (Regolith & Environment Science & Oxygen & Lunar Volatile Extraction) Is “Next Logical Step For Lunar Exploration”; Prototype To Be Tested On Mauna Kea HI In July
Image Credit: NASA
3rd Generation Design Of RESOLVE Experiment Set For Mission Simulation Field Test In July 2012 On Slopes Of Mauna Kea, Hawai`i; Next Step In Understanding Available Resources At Lunar Poles; NASA / CSA RESOLVE Payload On Lunar Rover Will Perform 3-5 Sample Collections At Depth Of 1m, Over Area Of Several Square Km During 5-7 Day Mission To Map Horizontal Distribution Of Hydrogen Bearing Volatiles
Image Credit: NASA, JAXA
Columbia Astrophysicist Arlin Crotts (Inset) Says Russia Secured Evidence Of Water In 1976, Ignored By West; Luna 24 Mission Drilled 2m Into Moon Surface, Returned 300g Of Rock, Found It To Be 0.1% Water; Paul Spudis Says Water Level Seems High For Mid-Latitudes, Analysis Of Samples Needs to Be Confirmed / Cross-Checked; Discovery Further Support Of In-Situ Water Manufacturing On Moon For Future Exploration
Image Credit: NASA, Columbia University