Shackleton Crater Archives - Astrobiology

Lunar south pole areas of permanent shadow. NASA Video

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A Microbial Survival Model for the Permanently Shadowed Regions of the Moon Shows Long-Term Survival of Terrestrial Microbial Contamination

by Keith CowingJune 9, 2025June 9, 2025

Previous models of microbial survival on the moon do not directly consider the permanently shadowed regions (PSRs). These regions shield their interiors from many of the biocidal factors encountered in […]

A visualization of Shackleton crater. The near (Earth-facing) side of the Moon is to the right. Color coded and contoured elevation illuminates the crater floor. -- NASA

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A Microbial Survival Model For The permanently Shadowed Regions Of The Moon Shows Long-Term Survival of Terrestrial Microbe Forward Contamination

by Keith CowingApril 10, 2025April 10, 2025

Based on previous models of microbial survival there are regions in the solar system which have high preservation potential for terrestrial spore-forming microbes such as Bacillus subtilis.

Mt. Erebus, Antarctica as seen from space -- European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery. Larger image

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Away Team History: Explorer Journals – Past And Future

by Keith CowingJuly 3, 2024July 3, 2024

When we return to the Moon, and then move outward to Mars and beyond, the people who visit these strange new places will write entries in their journals (or blogs) […]

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft has returned data that indicate ice may make up as much as 22 percent of the surface material in a crater located on the moon’s south pole.

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NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Reveals Ice Content in Shackleton Crater on the Moon

by Keith CowingJune 20, 2012June 13, 2024

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft has returned data that indicate ice may make up as much as 22 percent of the surface material in a crater located on the […]