更新時間 2010年 3月 2日, 格林尼治標準時間13:28
攜帶美國宇航局Mini-Sar雷達的印度月船一號探測器
美國科學家發現，月球北極附近有大量水冰。
由印度繞月探測器「月船一號」攜帶的美國宇航局Mini-Sar雷達探測月球時，在40多個隕坑裏發現水冰。
這一探測結果是在美國德克薩斯州舉行的第41屆太陽系大行星討論會上公布的。
會議還公布了另一次叫做LCROSS的月球探測行動的新發現，就是在月球的水中包含了像碳氫化合物這樣的物質。
Mini-Sar發現的北極附近的40多個隕坑裏的水冰寬度不等，直徑從2公里到15公里之間。
儘管不能測出隕坑的深度，但科學家說，這些水冰至少應該在2米厚以上，才會讓月船一號測出。
這些被發現有水冰的隕坑大多數都是從來無法受到太陽的光照，永遠在黑暗的籠罩下。
一些永遠處於黑暗的隕坑的溫度最低可達零下248攝氏度，比冥王星的表面還冷，這樣才會保持水冰的冰凍狀態。
美國休斯敦月球和行星研究所的施普迪斯博士估計，月球北極附近的隕坑裏至少存有6億噸水冰。
數量極大
他說，如果是這一數量的火箭燃料的話，將足夠一架航天飛機在2千2百年中每天發射一次。
施普迪斯博士還說，這些水冰的成分大多數是純粹的水分子，可能在月球表面乾燥的風化層之下的幾十厘米處。
具有保護作用的月球表層能防止那些有可能暴露在太陽光下的純水冰塊的蒸發。
去年美國宇航局和其他機構的科學家證實，月球表面的大部分地區存在水分子，而月球的南極則存在水冰。
今年二月，美國總統奧巴馬取消了美國在2020年重返月球的計劃。
現在美國科學家說，他們可以相當自信的肯定，人類在月球上可持續的存在是可能的。
月球一號是印度在2008年1月發射的首個繞月探測器，它攜帶的11個儀器中包括兩個美國宇航局的雷達，其中之一就是Mini-Sar。
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/trad/world/2010/03/100302_moonwaterice.shtml
美國宇航局在月球北極發現大量水冰儲量 提高載人基地的前景
Nasa finds vast water ice deposits at Moon's north pole raising prospect of manned base
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 3:37 PM on 02nd March 2010
A Nasa spacecraft has identified thick deposits of ice near the Moon's north pole, which makes a manned base on our satellite ever more possible, according to scientists.
The frozen deposits were found inside 40 small craters by a Nasa radar instrument onboard India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft.
The craters range from one to nine miles and scientists estimate they could contain at least 1.3 trillion pounds (600 million metric tons) of water ice.
'After analyzing the data, our science team determined a strong indication of water ice, a finding which will give future missions a new target to further explore and exploit,' said Jason Crusan, programme executive for the Nasa radar.
Water ice is essential to a manned Moon base, because drinking water is incredibly heavy and requires huge amounts of fuel to launch it into space.
The Nasa radar instrument, known as a Mini-SAR, has captured many of the permanently shadowed regions that exist at both poles of the Moons.
These dark areas are extremely cold and scientists had believed that volatile material, including water ice, could be present in large quantities there.
'The emerging picture from the multiple measurements and resulting data of the instruments on lunar missions indicates that water creation, migration, deposition and retention are occurring on the moon,' said Paul Spudis from the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston.
'The new discoveries show the moon is an even more interesting and attractive scientific, exploration and operational destination than people had previously thought.'
The Mini-SAR's findings are being published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
The results are consistent with recent findings of other Nasa instruments and add to the growing scientific understanding of the multiple forms of water found on the Moon.
The agency's Moon Mineralogy Mapper discovered water molecules in the Moon's polar regions, while water vapor was detected by NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1254849/Ice-Moons-north-pole-bringing-manned-base-closer.html
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