GREENBELT, Md., June 20 (UPI) -- NASA says a lunar orbiting spacecraft's data indicates ice may make up as much as 22 percent of the surface material in a crater on the moon's south pole.
Scientists using light from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's laser altimeter examined the floor of Shackleton crater and found it is brighter than those of other nearby craters, consistent with the presence of small amounts of ice, NASA reported Wednesday.
"The brightness measurements have been puzzling us since two summers ago," Gregory Neumann of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., said. "While the distribution of brightness was not exactly what we had expected, practically every measurement related to ice and other volatile compounds on the moon is surprising, given the cosmically cold temperatures inside its polar craters."
In addition to the possible evidence of ice, the study of Shackleton revealed a remarkably preserved crater, relatively unscathed since its formation more than 3 billion years ago, NASA said.
The Shackleton discoveries will help researchers understand crater formation and study other uncharted areas of the moon for possible evidence of ice, the space agency said.
