{"id":109875,"date":"2020-06-01T08:45:59","date_gmt":"2020-06-01T12:45:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=109875"},"modified":"2024-04-16T16:52:50","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T20:52:50","slug":"ucf-provides-maps-ice-favorability-index-to-companies-looking-to-mine-the-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-provides-maps-ice-favorability-index-to-companies-looking-to-mine-the-moon\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Provides Maps, Ice Favorability Index to Companies Looking to Mine the Moon"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 49ers who panned for gold during California\u2019s Gold Rush didn\u2019t really know where they might strike it rich. They had word of mouth and not much else to go on.<\/p>\n

Researchers at the University of Central Florida want to give prospectors looking to mine the moon better odds of striking gold, which on the moon means rich deposits of water ice that can be turned into resources, like fuel, for space missions.<\/p>\n

A team lead by planetary scientist Kevin Cannon created an Ice Favorability Index. The geological model explains the process for ice formation at the poles of the moon<\/a>, and mapped the terrain, which includes craters that may hold ice deposits. The model, which has been published in the peer-reviewed journal Icarus<\/em><\/a>, accounts for what asteroid impacts on the surface of the moon may do to deposits of ice found meters beneath the surface.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite being our closest neighbor, we still don\u2019t know a lot about water on the moon, especially how much there is beneath the surface,\u201d Cannon says. \u201cIt\u2019s important for us to consider the geologic processes that have gone on to better understand where we may find ice deposits and how to best get to them with the least amount of risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team was inspired by mining companies on Earth, which conduct detailed geological work, and take core samples before investing in costly extraction sites. Mining companies conduct field mappings, take core samples from the potential site and try to understand the geological reasons behind the formation of the particular mineral they are looking for in an area of interest. In essence they create a model for what a mining zone might look like before deciding to plunk down money to drill.<\/p>\n

The team at UCF followed the same approach using data collected about the moon over the years and ran simulations<\/a> in the lab. While they couldn\u2019t collect core samples, they had data from satellite observations and from the first trip to the moon.<\/p>\n