More perspective arrives on Goldstone Lunar Data

Knight Science Journalism Tracker

The moon’s south pole is one rugged place and that’s plain enough in photos. But after bouncing radar waves from Earth off the region astronomers seem amazed at just how deep some of the craters are. The elevation data that NASA’s Mojave Desert (Calif) Goldstone receiver obtained revealed crater bottoms 20,000 feet or so deeper than surrounding plateaus - some reach depths that never see sunlight. Peaks, in turn, reach about the same height above the mean. Now that’s relief. Water or other volatiles may stay permanently frozen, troves for science and perhaps resources for moon colonists.

Context Note: back in Oct. of 2006 were reports of another, Arecibo radar survey of the same region. It saw no signs of water ice down in those canyons and crater floors. (Cornell press release here ). But NASA - see stories below - says it still thinks water is likely there. No such overt doubts are in the press release or in the ensuing coverage this week. A bit of broader reporting seems to be in order.

Stories:
Register (UK) Lester Haines notes that, dangerous as it looks, some NASA managers only want all the more to send astronauts there ; Houston Chronicle Mark Carreau says the wracked terrain may be ideal for a human outpost ; New Scientist David Shiga ; NYTimes Kenneth Chang helpfully relays word (it’s in the press release too) that the radar pings, in 2006, took advantage of a rare orbital alignment that gave Earth a slightly better than usual view of the lunar southern extremity. Perhaps it took this long to fully reduce and interpret the data

Grist for the Mill: NASA Press Release w/ video, graphics