High-resolution map showing the topography in the interior of Shackleton crater as observed by the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter. Contours of elevation are plotted every 5 meters (16.5 feet). Colors show relative elevation with purple lowest and yellow highest. The crater is 4.1 kilometers (2.6 miles) deep. The spatial resolution of the topography is 10 meters and the radial accuracy is <1 meter - Source: MIT News
Researchers find evidence of ice content at the moon’s south pole
A team led by EAPS Maria Zuber has mapped the Moon's Shackleton crater, the unusually bright floor of which may hint at the presence of ice.
“We decided we would study the living daylights out of this crater,” Zuber says. “From the incredible density of observations we were able to make an extremely detailed topographic map.”
Maria Zuber leads a team which has mapped the Moon's Shackleton crater with unprecedented detail, finding possible evidence for small amounts of ice on the crater’s floor. Using a laser altimeter on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft, the team essentially illuminated the crater’s interior with laser light, measuring its albedo, or natural reflectance. The scientists found that the crater’s floor is in fact brighter than that of other nearby craters — an observation consistent with the presence of ice, which the team calculates may make up 22 percent of the material within a micron-thick layer on the crater’s floor.
Read more at more at MIT News more
