Ben Bussey on the Lunar Poles

“In the seventh presentation of the Moon 101 lecture series, Dr. Ben Bussey discusses the current understanding of the polar regions of the Moon. The presentation begins with a brief overview of the geometry of the Moon’s axis of rotation with respect to the ecliptic plane, the resulting polar environment on the lunar surface, and the proposition that a polar region, particularly the south pole, would be a good location for a lunar outpost. Using imagery data from the Clementine and SMART-1 missions, the majority of the presentation focuses on how local topography at the poles result in two specific areas of interest: permanently shadowed craters possibly containing water ice, and topographically high areas that receive enhanced illumination from sunlight due to their elevated position with respect to the surrounding terrain. The presentation concludes with discussions about how radar instruments on the Chandrayaan-1 and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.” [^ https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/moon101/#polar]

Video:

https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/moon101/bussey/

Slides:

http://spudislunarresources.nss.org/moon101/moon_101_polar.pdf