Water On Mercury: NASA Announces Discovery Of Ice At Planet's Poles [View all]
Source: Huffington Post
NASA announced Thursday that its Messenger probe has discovered new evidence of water ice on Mercury.
In the announcement, Sean Solomon, principal investigator for the Mercury Messenger program, said the probe had uncovered new evidence that deposits in permanently shadowed regions of Mercury's poles is water ice. The ice is found predominantly in impact craters, according to data obtained by Messenger.
According to a NASA press release, the tilt of Mercury’s rotational axis is almost zero -- less than one degree -- so there are pockets at the planet’s poles that never see sunlight. Scientists suggested decades ago that there might be water ice at Mercury’s poles, but the new findings provide"compelling support" for that claim.
Messenger used neutron spectroscopy to measure average hydrogen concentrations, an indicator of water ice.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/29/water-on-mercury-nasa-announces-ice-poles_n_2212433.html
Still waiting for that 'big news' from Mars. Water on Mercury is a ho-hum.
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