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back to article NASA sniffs water ice on Moon – maybe

The unusually bright floor of an ancient crater at the Moon's south pole may be proof that over 20 per cent of it may be coated with water ice. Or not. "There may be multiple explanations for the observed brightness throughout the crater," said Maria Zuber, the lead investigator of the team who authored a paper published …

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  1. Stratman
    Alien

    Never mind water, there's a face carved into the bottom of it.

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    1. VinceH
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      I think it's The Hulk, shaking a fist at us.

      "Hulk mad! Hulk left on moon!"

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  2. JDX Gold badge

    The colourful moon is much nicer, let's have that version.

    On a serious note, doesn't ice sublime in vacuum and would therefore disappear without an atmosphere?

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    1. HopDavid
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      The permanently shadowed craters are extremely cold, as low as 40 degrees Kelvin

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      1. JDX Gold badge
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        That doesn't really seem an answer, simply a slightly related fact. You don't say what temperature sublimation occurs at for instance.

        On a related note... isn't 40K quite warm for a crater which never sees the sun? Has the sun, over the eons, heated the entire moon up to 40K? Or is there residual heat from the moon's core?

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        1. Anonymous Coward
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          Joke

          I don't think you can describe 40K as quite warm. You would need a jumper (unless you are from Newcastle).

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          1. John 62
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            we have a winner

            you sir, have won the internets!

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        2. HopDavid
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          "a slightly related fact"? Look at a phase diagram. Temperature and pressure are *the* quantities.

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase_diagram#Crystal_phase_diagrams

          40 degrees Kelvin is extremely cold. Colder than Pluto. 40 degrees Kelvin is -233 degrees centigrade.

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  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Mars is boring!

    Maybe there is water on Mars. Or maybe there isn't.

    Not a single identifiable trace of water has been found on Mars. And that is a condensed summary of all the Mars exploration results over the past 12 years.

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    1. Anonymous Coward
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      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Mars is boring!

      Congratulations on waking up from your long coma. You have a lot of reading to do to catch up.

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      1. Anonymous Coward
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        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Mars is boring!

        > Congratulations on waking up from your long coma. You have a lot of reading to do to catch up.

        No, actually I've been reading about Mars for the past 12 years. It may or may not have water.

        Does Uranus have water? You should know.

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    2. JDX Gold badge
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      Re: Mars is boring!

      You realise this article is about the moon, not Mars?

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  4. Ryan 7
    Boffin

    That's about 55,000 litres of water, once melted

    Enough to support a small base for a few years, even with dreadfully inefficient collection/usage rates.

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  5. mhenriday
    Pint

    «The unusually bright floor of an ancient crater at the Moon's south pole

    may be proof that over 20 per cent of it may be coated with water ice. Or not.»

    Well, Rik, if we wait - those of us who can - until around 2025, perhaps Chinese space travellers will tell us....

    Henri

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  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    pointless facts to pick up women

    who bloody cares! except scientists trying to impress girls like on the dire nerd fantasy the big bore theory.

    and the usual stupid who think they are clever for being interested.

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