Overview
- Researchers reporting in Nature Astronomy synthesized Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter data to show polar ice grew through long, steady deposition rather than a single ancient event.
- Team simulations point to roughly 3 to 3.5 billion years of continuous accumulation, though some summaries describe a conservative lower bound of at least 1.5 billion years.
- Older permanently shadowed regions hold more ice, with Haworth Crater near the south pole flagged as a strong candidate after spending billions of years in darkness.
- The study combined Diviner thermal maps to track long-cold craters with LAMP ultraviolet measurements to map surface ice signals across the poles.
- Scientists cite multiple likely sources for lunar water such as comet and asteroid impacts, solar wind chemistry, and ancient volcanism, and they say only direct sampling and new instruments like the planned L-CIRiS mission can confirm origins and assess how usable the ice is for Artemis-era crews.