NASA plans to send humans into an icy part of the moon for the first time

NASA's ambitious plan for send astronauts back to the moon here five years has one goal: the lunar south pole. The Apollo missions of the 60s and 70s have all landed around the Moon's equator, but the pole has something very special that does not have these sites: ice, baby ice.

"We know that the South Pole region contains ice and can be rich in other resources based on our observations in orbit, but otherwise we live in a totally unexplored world," said NASA's Steven Clarke on Monday.

While no one went around the post, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter probe scanned the area. So we have detailed maps of the area to work with.

Scientists published an article in 2018 showing the existence of surface ice at the lunar poles, especially in the southern shadow areas inside the craters. These areas reach -414 degrees Fahrenheit (-248 degrees Celsius) cold enough cold enough for the water to solidify as ice in a cold store.

The ability to extract water on the moon fuels NASA's broader ambitions to use the moon as a starting point to further explore the solar system with any human missions to March.

NASA says the ice could potentially be used to "drink, cool equipment, breathe and make rocket fuel".

This is not just the ice that makes the South Pole attractive. The areas near Shackleton crater of the moon receive a lot of sun, which could be exploited by solar energy systems.

NASA went into high gear on a crewed mission following a push Trump administration earlier this year.

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine, appointed by Trump, accepted the challenge. And it will be a challenge. NASA originally planned 2028 as the target date. The year 2024 is not far off and much remains to be done before the astronauts will touch the moon again. They might just want to pack ice skates.

Originally released at 9:07 Pacific Time.