Ice deposits at least 6 feet (2 meters) thick can be found in some small craters on the moon, researchers reported Monday in one of two studies showing more evidence of water on the moon and Mars. The second study suggested that ice has recently melted and re-frozen on Mars, widening some of the characteristic gullies on its surface. The two studies add to the political and scientific debate about how best to explore our solar system and the universe - with missions that include human crews, or experiments using robots and remote surveys. In one of the two studies released on Monday, Paul Spudis of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston and colleagues analyzed measurements from India's Chandrayaan spacecraft to find evidence of thick ice deposits in some permanently shaded craters on the moon. “As the moon has been bombarded with water-bearing objects such as comets and meteorites and implanted with solar wind hydrogen over geological time, some of this material must have made its way into these cold, dark areas,” they wrote in Geophysical Research Letters. The second study showed that 6-foot (2-meter) wide gully on Mars had become nearly 400 feet (120 meters) longer over two years. Researchers said the best explanation is the melting of small amounts of water ice.
