What scientific insight is gained by analyzing the composition of ancient ice preserved in the lunar south pole PSRs?
Answer
Reconstructing the bombardment history of the Moon and water arrival on inner planets
The Permanently Shadowed Regions (PSRs) function as geological cold traps, safeguarding volatile compounds delivered by impacts across billions of years. Analyzing the composition of this ancient, chemically unchanged ice provides scientists with an invaluable, pristine chemical record. This record allows researchers to reconstruct the history of bombardment that the Moon endured and offers critical insights into the mechanisms by which water may have originally arrived on Earth and other terrestrial planets in the inner Solar System.
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