
The discovery of carbon dioxide cold traps on the moon may have a major influence in shaping future lunar missions and could impact the feasibility of a sustained robot or human presence on it.
Such cold temperatures are reached in the shadowed areas of the moon that scientists suggest that carbon dioxide molecules could freeze and remain in solid form.
If this is indeed the case then it could potentially be used in a variety of ways. Future space explorers could use the resource in the production of steel as well as rocket fuel and biomaterials, which would both be essential for sustained robot or human presence on the moon.

The new research, was published in the AGU journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Norbert Schörghofer, a planetary scientist at the Planetary Science Institute, explained that the existence of carbon dioxide cold traps does not guarantee the existence of solid carbon dioxide on the moon.

He said:
“I think when I started this, the question was, ‘Can we confidently say there are carbon dioxide cold traps on the moon or not?
“My surprise was that they’re actually, definitely there. It could have been that we can’t establish their existence, [they might have been] one pixel on a map… so I think the surprise was that we really found contiguous regions which are cold enough, beyond doubt.”

Categories: Science
Interesting. Methane and ammonia would be useful as well – but a lake of helium-3 is probably too much to hope for! Duncan.