A2_2 Water on the Moon: an energy comparison

Abstract

This paper discusses the implication of the LCROSS mission finding water-ice in a permanently shadowed crater on the Moon.  If water-ice is discovered, through looking at a simple model of the crater, this paper looks at how useful the water-ice would be to future long-term missions by comparing the amount of energy needed to raise the ice from the surface of the Moon to transporting water from Earth.  Assuming water-ice is present - even in the general case where the mission length and crew number is unspecified - to send sufficient water from Earth a factor of 10⁸ J person^-1 day^-1 is required when compared to mining the ice.