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.
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