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Lunar Prospector Special Report Is there ice on the moon?   See Principal Investigator, Dr. Alan Binder, talk about Prospector's Mission Objectives: Using RealMedia (requires RealPlayer) Download the Quicktime Movie (2.9 Mb) To many, "lunar ice" might sound a little strange, yet in 1961 three Caltech researchers offered a few plausible arguments for its existence. Kenneth Watson, Bruce C. Murray, and Harrison Brown theorized that, since the Sun never deviates more than 1.6° from the Moon's equatorial plane, some crater floors near the lunar poles might lie in constant shadow. At 40° to 50° Kelvin, these "cold traps" could keep ice so solidly frozen that almost none of it would escape into space. Thirty-three years later, their theory was tested for the first time. Inside: Blazing a Trail: Follow the trail of events and ideas that cleared the way for Prospector's journey into the new frontier. Staking a Claim: If we find ice, who's is it? Explore the questions and concerns surrounding the advent of interstellar real estate. Mining the Gold:: Take a look at the ways a lunar motherload might change the way we think about humans in space. ICE ON THE MOON [Blazing a trail][Staking a claim][Mining the gold] [Bibliography][Ice Section Contents]