MESSENGER Finds New Evidence for Water Ice at Mercury's Poles
New observations by the MESSENGER spacecraft provide compelling support for the long-held hypothesis that Mercury harbors abundant water ice and other frozen volatile materials in its permanently shadowed polar craters.
Three independent lines of evidence support this conclusion: the first measurements of excess hydrogen at Mercury's north pole with MESSENGER's Neutron Spectrometer, the first measurements of the reflectance of Mercury's polar deposits at near-infrared wavelengths with the Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA), and the first detailed models of the surface and near-surface temperatures of Mercury's north polar regions that utilize the actual topography of Mercury's surface measured by the MLA. These findings are presented in three papers published online today in Science Express.
This is a truly amazing find! Solid, tangible evidence of water on the surface of Mercury in the form of ice. This is resoundingly good news after the debunking of the supposed microbial life on Mars, and a wonderful day for science.
To clarify: there was solid evidence of water -- in the form of ice -- in several craters near the poles of Mercury. This was found by the MESSENGER spacecraft which has been orbiting Mercury, and was detected in several ways: by neutron spectrometry, by infrared reflection, and by thermal/topography maps. While Mercury isn't exactly hospitable to life even with the presence of water, there was a carbon presence detected in the water. This means that, while not being alive (it is not organic by nature), it can be concluded that organic compounds are prevalent in meteorites and maybe the universe -- some think this is how life on Earth actually started, with the mixture of water and carbon.
