back to article First-ever pics of lunar polar crater interiors released

A NASA radar instrument aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 Moon orbiter has sent back the first ever images of hidden crater interiors at the lunar poles. Space boffins hope to use such pictures to discover deposits of water ice, which could be invaluable for future Moonbase astronauts. NASA overlay of Mini-SAR imagery from …

COMMENTS

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  1. David Webb
    Coat

    Excited!

    Whilst I'm sure lots of people will get very excited about craters, did they all miss that big long object sitting in the picture?! Can't miss it, straight lines and everything!

  2. Lionel Baden

    oh this is getting annoying!!

    please can we just shuttle up a couple of water bottles, Even if its just to keep them happy!!!

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Alien

    But what is that thing?

    It looks like a monolith to me, I'd be more worried about that than the contents of the lunar bum

  4. Chris Harrison
    Alien

    2001 - A Space Oddity?

    The craters are boring - but why didn't NASA mention they've found out where the big slab went?

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Only one word for this...

    Indian!

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    Apollo 11

    Why don't they swing around and send back a photograph of the 1969 Apollo 11 landing site to dispel 40 years of conspiracy theories... if it's really there.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Black Helicopters

    Clangers?

    Maybe that slab is part of some sort of Clanger invasion fleet?

    AC because soon they will be here, and I don't want to be thrown to the soup dragon

  8. Andy Gilbert
    Coat

    So that's where I left my space ruler!

    Been looking for that everywhere!

  9. Cortland Richmond

    No crater bottoms?

    That looks quite a bit like an ordinary optical image -- complete with shadows. One expects when told of the first pictures of crater floors to actually see crater floors. If not crater bottoms.

  10. Tom Austin
    Joke

    My God...

    ...it's full of craters...

  11. Fluffykins Silver badge

    My God!

    it's full of stars!

  12. Alan Sharkey
    Coat

    It's

    A landing site for aliens. Finally, proof that they really exist:)

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @No crater bottoms?

    It is an ordinary optical image (Earth-based, Arecibo Observatory radar telescope image), except for the strip from the new sensor. I assume that the strip was overlain on the existing image to give context and a before/after comparison. In that strip, you can see the crater floor that is black in the legacy image. The implication is that further strips will follow, filling out the remaining shadow.

  14. Martin Gregorie

    Aricibo?

    The Aricibo radar has the same view as an optical telescope looking from Earth. It can't see the polar regions well either, so my guess is that the large area photo is from one of the earlier lunar orbiters, not the Aricibo radar. Besides, it has the look of an optical image from the Apollo era. You'd expect the crater interiors to be dark since the sun can't shine into them, which is why selenologists think they might have icy bottoms.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    @No crater bottoms?

    That's because it is an ordinary picture. If you read the caption (why do people not read!!) you find that the big wide rectangular thingy is an overlay from the SAR imaging onto a bog-standard optical telescope image of the moon. It's so you can go 'oh, it's the moon - I get where that is' rather than being shown some SAR image that you can't quite figure out what the hell is because you're clearly a retard!!.

  16. Luther Blissett

    Irritating, yes, but...

    sometimes pearls fall unexpectedly out of the sky and land at your feet.

    "Scientists believe that tying in ... will find anything of value ..."

    Not just scientists! Only connect > "... built by the US Naval Air Warfare Center ..." Intriguing, given that on the Moon there is no war, no air, and not much of the USA.

    Well, well, well. (And I'm not referring to water). Do you suppose the USN is looking for somewhere to float their boat?

  17. The elephant in the room
    Thumb Down

    How is that useful?

    Its a picture in the direction of the interior of the craters, but the black shadows completely hide any detail that might or might not be interesting to know about.

  18. Yorkshirepudding
    Joke

    my god...

    its xenu! look there in the top left!

  19. Paul

    RE:Apollo 11

    That wont work. They will just clame the photos were photoshoped.

  20. Alistair

    @LutherB

    One can presume that it was built by the US Naval Air Warfare Center because they have some expertise in synthetic aperture radar techniques.

  21. Luther Blissett

    @Alistair

    If the USN has such expertise in synthetic aperture radar, why hand it on a plate to an alien government (no slur intended on Indians) which already has the technology (BrahMos) to blow entire carrier groups to fine powder. A little bit of blackmail? Perish the thought. More likely the USN has cottoned on to the CIA's game of ex parte deus ex machina, and decided that's what sauce for a loony goose is sauce for a saner gander. All of which is peripheral to the question - how will water on the Moon float the USN's boat - or are they lining up the rubber ducks for the next turkey shoot? (To take place on either a New Moon or a Full Moon).

  22. Johnny G

    Haworth?

    I think their sat nav needs an update. Haworth is near Bradford

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Exploration is dangerous

    "Space boffins hope to use such pictures to discover deposits of water ice, which could be invaluable for future Moonbase astronauts."

    ...as opposed to deposits of Vanilla Ice, which could be fatal.

  24. I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects
    Paris Hilton

    You missed something more exciting.

    "Can't miss it, straight lines and everything!"

    There are more than 180 angles in any direction that a meteorite can hit the moon as it has a curved surface.

    Of all the angles it can be hit at, there is only one 90 degree one. There are three hundred and sixty directions for every other angle.

    So why are the majority of craters symmetrical? That can only happen if they are hit at 90 degrees.

    And there are considerably more than 360 angles in a circle. 21,240 minutes for a start. Still only one perpendicular though.

    That is proof there is either water or life on the moon. The trick is to make sure the British don't get there and start managing it.

  25. Moss Icely Spaceport
    Thumb Up

    Apollo11

    The LEM landing pad will still be there as will the wreckage of the deliberately crashed Eagle.

    The pics of the Apollo craft would be great to see - again!

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    [unnecessary title goes here]

    Looks like a close up shot of a lamb khorma.

  27. Gianni Straniero
    Boffin

    @@No Crater Bottoms

    "It is an ordinary optical image (Earth-based, Arecibo Observatory radar telescope image)"

    Pardon my ignorance, but how does a dirty great radio telescope in Puerto Rico provide you with "an ordinary optical image"?

  28. Gianni Straniero
    Boffin

    @Myself

    Never mind. I found out how:

    http://www.naic.edu/~ehowell/aoradar/radarpage.html#moon

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