Chippiewill
30-11-2012, 09:12 PM
New observations by the MESSENGER spacecraft provide compelling support for the long-held hypothesis that Mercury harbors abundant water ice and other frozen volatile materials in its permanently shadowed polar craters.
Three independent lines of evidence support this conclusion: the first measurements of excess hydrogen at Mercury's north pole with MESSENGER's Neutron Spectrometer, the first measurements of the reflectance of Mercury's polar deposits at near-infrared wavelengths with the Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA), and the first detailed models of the surface and near-surface temperatures of Mercury's north polar regions that utilize the actual topography of Mercury's surface measured by MLA. These findings are presented in three papers published online today in Science Express.
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=233
Pretty funny how the Curiosity rover got sent all the way to mars yet one of the most significant discoveries since is water on MERCURY. That said there's still that under wraps discovery which curiosity has made.
Three independent lines of evidence support this conclusion: the first measurements of excess hydrogen at Mercury's north pole with MESSENGER's Neutron Spectrometer, the first measurements of the reflectance of Mercury's polar deposits at near-infrared wavelengths with the Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA), and the first detailed models of the surface and near-surface temperatures of Mercury's north polar regions that utilize the actual topography of Mercury's surface measured by MLA. These findings are presented in three papers published online today in Science Express.
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=233
Pretty funny how the Curiosity rover got sent all the way to mars yet one of the most significant discoveries since is water on MERCURY. That said there's still that under wraps discovery which curiosity has made.