{"id":15903,"date":"2021-11-18T08:26:24","date_gmt":"2021-11-18T08:26:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=15903"},"modified":"2024-09-04T21:07:53","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T20:07:53","slug":"carbon-dioxide-cold-traps-on-the-moon-have-been-confirmed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/carbon-dioxide-cold-traps-on-the-moon-have-been-confirmed\/15903\/","title":{"rendered":"Carbon dioxide cold traps on the moon have been confirmed"},"content":{"rendered":"
After decades of uncertainty, researchers in Washington have confirmed the existence of lunar carbon dioxide cold traps that could potentially contain solid carbon dioxide. The discovery will likely have a major influence in shaping future lunar missions and could impact the feasibility of a sustained robot or human existence on the moon.<\/p>\n
In the permanently shadowed regions in the poles of our moon, temperatures dip below those in the coldest areas of Pluto, allowing for carbon dioxide cold traps to occur. In these cold traps, carbon dioxide molecules can freeze and remain in solid form even during peak temperatures in the lunar summer.<\/p>\n
This solid carbon dioxide could be utilised by future human or robot explorers to produce fuel or materials for longer lunar stays. The carbon dioxide and other potential volatile organics could also assist scientists to better understand the origin of water and other elements on the moon. Although cold traps have been predicted by planetary scientists for years, this new study is the first to decisively establish and map the presence of carbon dioxide cold traps. To locate the coldest spots on the moon’s surface, researchers analysed 11 years of temperature data from the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment, an instrument flying aboard NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.<\/p>\n