MESSENGER confirms presence of water ice on Mercury
Posted: Fri, Nov 30, 2012, 7:38 AM ET (1238 GMT)
Data from several instruments on a NASA spacecraft have allowed scientists to confirm the presence of water ice in craters near the poles of Mercury. In papers published in the journal Science this week, scientists said that data from the spacecraft's neutron spectrometer confirmed the presence of hydrogen-rich deposits, likely water ice, in permanently-shadowed craters near the planet's poles. Those areas correspond with radar-bright features in those craters, first detected by ground-based radar observations two decades ago. Near-infrared imagery also detected traces of organic compounds, likely left behind by the comet and asteroid impacts that deposited the ice, covering the ice. Scientists estimate the shadowed regions of craters, which remain cold enough to keep ice because they're always out of view of the Sun, could harbor between 100 billion and one trillion tons of ice.
Data from several instruments on a NASA spacecraft have allowed scientists to confirm the presence of water ice in craters near the poles of Mercury. In papers published in the journal Science this week, scientists said that data from the spacecraft's neutron spectrometer confirmed the presence of hydrogen-rich deposits, likely water ice, in permanently-shadowed craters near the planet's poles. Those areas correspond with radar-bright features in those craters, first detected by ground-based radar observations two decades ago. Near-infrared imagery also detected traces of organic compounds, likely left behind by the comet and asteroid impacts that deposited the ice, covering the ice. Scientists estimate the shadowed regions of craters, which remain cold enough to keep ice because they're always out of view of the Sun, could harbor between 100 billion and one trillion tons of ice.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Friday, June 12
ESA Seeks European Footprints On The Moon After Artemis III
Aviation Week — 6:24 am ET (1024 GMT) Arrakihs, the first ESA mission led by Spain to study the hidden history of galaxies
ICE-CSIC — 6:23 am ET (1023 GMT) How data centers in space could become a reality
Axios — 6:18 am ET (1018 GMT) Quantum Space’s military SPAC is trying to catch SpaceX’s IPO wave
TechCrunch — 6:16 am ET (1016 GMT) SpaceX to close above $2 trillion market cap on its debut, prediction market traders say
CNBC — 6:16 am ET (1016 GMT) |
