SE Valley Times

Scientists at Arizona State University have begun exploring the moon's permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) using the NASA ShadowCam instrument. The latest series of images, captured by ShadowCam between April and June of last year, offer unprecedented detail of these areas compared to Earth-based telescopes or previous orbiting spacecraft.

The ShadowCam instrument, installed on the Danuri spacecraft inside the Korea Aerospace Research Institute's assembly clean room, is designed to illuminate and capture images of the moon’s darkest places. These regions are primarily located at the lunar poles and are believed to contain water ice and other substances that could support future astronauts, landers, and rovers.

ShadowCam amplifies faint light reflected off crater rims as it orbits aboard the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter. This method allows it to take a series of images that form "collars" around PSRs with each orbital pass. When combined, these images create detailed visual maps of the shadowed areas.

Nick Estes, science operations manager for ShadowCam, explains that this "collars" approach enables researchers to exceed their original mission goals by imaging PSRs of all sizes within these collar areas. “Humans are very visual,” Estes says. “We like to see the surface, see what these features look like, to be able to make interpretations of what's there. That's what ShadowCam's going to let us do.”

Many PSRs are marked by impact craters containing additional craters within them, presenting challenges for imaging but also adding excitement as scientists view previously unseen lunar locations. “We haven't seen any obvious signs of large chunks of ice or anything like that," Estes notes, "but it doesn't mean it's not there.”

For more information and to explore the latest ShadowCam images, visit data.ser.asu.edu.