Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Episode 541: Why Is The Moon’s South Pole So Important? It’s All About Water
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Episode 541: Why Is The Moon’s South Pole So Important? It’s All About Water
As NASA prepares to return to the Moon by 2024 as part of its Artemis program, the agency is focusing its efforts on exploring the Moon’s polar regions. These are areas of the Moon which seem to have a lot of water mixed in with the regolith.
Some of these craters are permanently in shadow, and might still have large quantities of water, that’s accessible to human and robotic explorers. This is a critical resource, and the Moon might be just the place to help humanity as it pushes out to explore the rest of the Solar System.
But it might also be an illusion. We really won’t know until we look up close.
Audio Podcast version:
ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/universe-today-guide-to-space-audio/id794058155?mt=2
RSS: https://www.universetoday.com/audio
What Fraser's Watching Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbJ42wpShvmkjd428BcHcCEVWOjv7cJ1G
Weekly email newsletter:
https://www.universetoday.com/newsletter
Support us at: http://www.patreon.com/universetoday
More stories at: http://www.universetoday.com/
Twitch: https://twitch.tv/fcain
Follow us on Twitter: @universetoday
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/universetoday
Instagram - http://instagram.com/universetoday
Team: Fraser Cain - @fcain / [email protected]
Karla Thompson - @karlaii / https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEItkORQYd4Wf0TpgYI_1fw
Chad Weber - [email protected]
References:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/50-years-ago-lunar-landing-sites-selected
https://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/lunar/
https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/1336/what-thickness-depth-of-water-would-be-required-to-provide-radiation-shielding-i
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3480
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/lro-sheds-light-on-lunar-water-movement
https://www.nasa.gov/ames/LCROSS
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/inside-dark-polar-moon-craters-water-not-as-invincible-as-expected-scientists-argue
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/chang-e-landers-a-closer-look
https://www.isro.gov.in/gslv-mk-iii-m1-chandrayaan-2-mission/launch-kit-glance
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2017/1207-koreas-first-lunar-mission.html
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-12-new-lunar-science-technology-investigations
https://www.astrobotic.com/2019/7/1/astrobotic-awarded-5-6-million-nasa-contract-to-deliver-autonomous-moon-rover
http://www.planetary.org/explore/projects/planetvac/
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-07/uom-nsu071119.php
https://today.ttu.edu/posts/2019/07/Stories/NASA-picks-Nagihara-instrument-moon-landing
Support Universe Today Podcast
View all episodes
By Fraser Cain
4.7
518518 ratings
As NASA prepares to return to the Moon by 2024 as part of its Artemis program, the agency is focusing its efforts on exploring the Moon’s polar regions. These are areas of the Moon which seem to have a lot of water mixed in with the regolith.
Some of these craters are permanently in shadow, and might still have large quantities of water, that’s accessible to human and robotic explorers. This is a critical resource, and the Moon might be just the place to help humanity as it pushes out to explore the rest of the Solar System.
But it might also be an illusion. We really won’t know until we look up close.
Audio Podcast version:
ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/universe-today-guide-to-space-audio/id794058155?mt=2
RSS: https://www.universetoday.com/audio
What Fraser's Watching Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbJ42wpShvmkjd428BcHcCEVWOjv7cJ1G
Weekly email newsletter:
https://www.universetoday.com/newsletter
Support us at: http://www.patreon.com/universetoday
More stories at: http://www.universetoday.com/
Twitch: https://twitch.tv/fcain
Follow us on Twitter: @universetoday
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/universetoday
Instagram - http://instagram.com/universetoday
Team: Fraser Cain - @fcain / [email protected]
Karla Thompson - @karlaii / https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEItkORQYd4Wf0TpgYI_1fw
Chad Weber - [email protected]
References:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/50-years-ago-lunar-landing-sites-selected
https://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/lunar/
https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/1336/what-thickness-depth-of-water-would-be-required-to-provide-radiation-shielding-i
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3480
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/lro-sheds-light-on-lunar-water-movement
https://www.nasa.gov/ames/LCROSS
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/inside-dark-polar-moon-craters-water-not-as-invincible-as-expected-scientists-argue
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/chang-e-landers-a-closer-look
https://www.isro.gov.in/gslv-mk-iii-m1-chandrayaan-2-mission/launch-kit-glance
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2017/1207-koreas-first-lunar-mission.html
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-12-new-lunar-science-technology-investigations
https://www.astrobotic.com/2019/7/1/astrobotic-awarded-5-6-million-nasa-contract-to-deliver-autonomous-moon-rover
http://www.planetary.org/explore/projects/planetvac/
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-07/uom-nsu071119.php
https://today.ttu.edu/posts/2019/07/Stories/NASA-picks-Nagihara-instrument-moon-landing
Support Universe Today Podcast
More shows like Universe Today Podcast
View all
Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science
1,345 Listeners
Astronomy Cast
2,866 Listeners
The 365 Days of Astronomy
336 Listeners
Ask a Spaceman!
804 Listeners
Space Nuts: Astronomy Insights & Cosmic Discoveries
223 Listeners
SpaceTime: Your Guide to Space & Astronomy
320 Listeners
Into the Impossible With Brian Keating
1,049 Listeners
Houston We Have a Podcast
1,235 Listeners
Daniel and Kelly’s Extraordinary Universe
2,307 Listeners
The Supermassive Podcast
287 Listeners
Why This Universe?
363 Listeners
This Week in Space (Audio)
135 Listeners
Astrum Space
134 Listeners
The Astrophysics Podcast
52 Listeners
Crash Course Pods: The Universe
505 Listeners