Pools of water ice found hiding in the darkest recesses of the moon

Astronomers have seen the first firm evidence that there are deposits of icy water on the surface of the moon – and they may have been laying there for the past 3 billion years.

The ice is nestled within craters at both poles of the moon that are permanently in shadow and bitterly cold at −163 °C. The presence of accessible water on the surface of the moon could prove useful if we ever establish a permanent base there.

Ultraviolet scans in 2008 and 2009 using spectrometers aboard India’s first lunar orbiter, Chandrayaan-1, had hinted the moons polar shadowlands might…