Map of the north pole of moon (via Wired Science; Original Source: NASA/ISRO)

A NASA radar aboard India’s Chandrayaan-I lunar orbiter found 40 craters, ranging in size from 1 to 9 miles across, with pockets of ice. Scientists estimate at least 600 million tons of ice could be entombed in these craters.

The radar, called the Mini-SAR, sends pulses of left-polarized radio waves out to measure the surface roughness of the moon. While smooth surfaces send back a reversed, right-polarized wave, rough areas return left-polarized waves.

Source: Millions of Tons of Water Ice Found at Moon’s North Pole | Wired Science | Wired.com.

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