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A Deep, Dark Crater Holds An Icy Surprise

The cold, cratered surface of the moon does not look too inviting. But last week it began to seem a little less bleak. Scientists announced that the moon might be home to a giant field of dirty ice. The possibility that water exists on the moon increases the chances that humans could someday live on its surface or use the moon as a space base.

Two years ago, NASA and the U.S. military sent a probe to explore the polar areas of the moon. When the craft, named Clementine, trained its radio scanners on the moon's South Pole, the signal indicated that it had spotted what might be a patch of ice. The ice was found in a deep, dark crater known as the South Pole-Aitken basin. The hole is 1,500 miles wide and eight miles deep--deep enough to fit one and a half Mount Everests!

Astronomers guess that the ice might have been brought there by a comet that crashed into the moon. Comets, sometimes called "dirty snowballs," are made of dust and ice.

Dwight Dunston, a Clementine mission director, suggests that someday "settlers could break the water down into oxygen and hydrogen and turn them into rocket fuel and air." Ready to pack your bags?

Next: Bill Clinton's New Team