UCF professor among team working with one-of-a-kind camera going to the moon
Research could help pave the way for future exploration
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ORLANDO, Fla. – Kerri Donaldson Hanna is a University of Central Florida physics professor working with NASA to discover what rocks and the soil on the moon’s south pole surface contain research that could be key for future human and robotic exploration.
“Looking at the thermal data, we can tell how compact or how fluffy the regolith is, which will really be important for knowing what kind of tools we need to develop if we’re going to drill down into the lunar surface,” Donaldson Hanna said.
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Video report by ITV News Correspondent Stacey Foster
Water has been found on a sunlit surface of the Moon for the first time, Nasa has announced.
The finding means water on the Moon may be more common and accessible than previously thought, but the discovery could have potential implications for future lunar missions.
Researchers suggest in some cases tiny patches of ice might exist in permanent shadows no bigger than a penny.
They explored phenomena on the Moon called cold traps, which are shadowy regions of the surface that exist in a state of eternal darkness.
It is thought that many have gone without a single ray of sunlight for potentially billions of years.