NASA: Closest planet to sun, Mercury, harbours ice

PTI Updated - March 12, 2018 at 03:06 PM.

A Mosaic of MESSENGER Images of Mercury's North Polar Region: All of the larger polar deposits are located on the floors or walls of impact craters. Deposits farther from the pole are seen to be concentrated on the north-facing sides of craters. (Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, Arecibo Observatory)

A NASA spacecraft has confirmed the presence of ice at Mercury’s North Pole.

Scientists today announced that the orbiting probe, Messenger, has found evidence of frozen water, even though Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. The ice is located in the permanently shadowed region of Mercury’s North Pole.

It’s thought to be at least 1.5 feet deep and possibly as much as 65 feet deep.

Scientists say it is likely Mercury’s South Pole also has ice, though there are no data to support it. Messenger orbits much closer to the North Pole than the south.

Radar measurements, for years, have suggested the presence of ice. Now scientists know for a fact.

Messenger is the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury. It was launched in 2004.

Published on November 30, 2012 03:18