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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Moon Ice on the Rocks"
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READER SCRIPT
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WHEN IT COMES TO ICE ON THE MOON, WE'RE MORE THAN A FEW CUBES SHORT OF A TRAY. THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. ALTHOUGH PREVIOUS STUDIES INDICATED THE POSSIBILITY OF LARGE AMOUNTS OF ICE ON THE MOON, WE MAY WANT TO HOLD OFF ON HAVING THE NEXT WINTER OLYMPICS UP THERE. THERE'S JUST NOT A LOT OF ICE TO BE HAD--AND MAYBE NONE AT ALL. RESEARCHERS FROM CORNELL AND THE SMITHSONIAN HAVE FOUND THAT SOME OF THE SAME RADAR SIGNATURES THAT PREVIOUSLY INDICATED POSSIBLE ICY STRUCTURES NEXT TO CRATERS WERE ALSO IN SUNLIT AREAS THAT REACHED 240-PLUS DEGREES! THEY CONCLUDED THAT THESE WERE PROBABLY NOT ICE. NEW HIGH-RESOLUTION RADAR IMAGES INDICATE THAT THE STRUCTURES AROUND YOUNG IMPACT CRATERS ARE A ROCKY MATERIAL; THERE STILL MAY BE ICE HIDDEN IN DEEP CRATERS. THIS DISCOVERY WILL HAVE AN IMPACT ON ANY FUTURE PLANS FOR LONG-TERM BASES AT THE LUNAR POLES. AND, I GUESS I CAN FORGET THE FROZEN-MOON-PIE FRANCHISE. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
