MICER and Moon Water

We astronauts love finding water ice on the moon (or anywhere in space). We can melt it for drinking, bathing, watering crops, and making rocket fuel.

Recently, I was at the Matthew Henson Base at the moon's south pole helping look for ice.

I punched enough core holes to make the moon look like Swiss cheese for real!

I used to think the moon was as dry as dust. But, it turns out that water is present in lots of places, including polar craters that never see the sun.

The shadows of polar craters never reach above -250 degrees Fahrenheit. And, because of the moon's tilt, sunlight never reaches these areas.

We have a satellite that has a special radar instrument to detect water and ice. It's called the Moon Ice Radar (we call it "MICER").

When MICER gets a detection, we send a drone or an astronaut to check it out.

I drove a moon buggy out to the coordinates and dug around all day with a coring tube, but I didn't find any ice. But, that's still a good thing.

Why?

Because this failure will help us refine MICER's programming so it will be even more accurate next time.

It takes time to get everything right. That's why the Rocket Team's motto is "Keep Trying."

If you're having a tough time with a problem, then...

KEEP TRYING!