Tech News
Where The Sun Always Shines
By Ulf Stabe
Apr 14, 2005, 7:11 GMT

Scientists have found the perfect spot for a lunar base on the rim of the crater Peary in the North Pole region of the moon, which remains illuminated for the entire lunar day.

Due to this it would be a perfect place to generate solar energy, crucial to the success of a long term settlement. Also scientists think that in the permanently shadowed rims of other craters around the lunar north pole water ice might be found, being the source for water, oxygen and hydrogen.

An illumination map of the North Pole of the Moon. © Nature

In 2004, a team led by Dr. Ben Bussey of Johns Hopkins University using images taken by the Clementine mission determined that four mountainous regions on the rim of the 73 km wide Peary crater at the Moon's north pole appeared to remain illuminated for the entire Lunar day. These unnamed "mountains of eternal light" are possible due to the Moon's extremely small axial tilt, which also gives rise to permanent shadow at the bottoms of many polar craters.

No similar regions of eternal light exist at the less-mountainous south pole, although the rim of Shackleton crater is illuminated for 80% of the lunar day. Clementine's images were taken during the northern Lunar hemisphere's summer season, and it remains unknown whether these four mountains are shaded at any point during their local winter season.

In February 2004, US President George W. Bush called for a plan to return manned missions to the Moon by 2020. The European Space Agency and People's Republic of China both have plans to launch probes to explore the Moon in the near future, too. European spacecraft Smart 1 was launched September 27, 2003 and entered lunar orbit on November 15, 2004 . It will survey the lunar environment and create an X-ray map of the Moon.

China has expressed ambitious plans for exploring the Moon and is investigating the prospect of lunar mining, specifically looking for the isotope Helium-3 for use as an energy source on Earth.

Japan and India are on the waiting list for the Moon, too. Japan already outlined its upcoming missions to our neighbour Lunar-A. Even a manned lunar base is planned by the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA). India will first try an unmanned orbiting satellite, called Chandrayan.

(Source Wikipedia)