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Science 29 November 1996:
Vol. 274. no. 5292, pp. 1495 - 1498
DOI: 10.1126/science.274.5292.1495
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Reports

The Clementine Bistatic Radar Experiment

S. Nozette, * C. L. Lichtenberg, P. Spudis, R. Bonner, W. Ort, E. Malaret, M. Robinson, E. M. Shoemaker

During the Clementine 1 mission, a bistatic radar experiment measured the magnitude and polarization of the radar echo versus bistatic angle, beta , for selected lunar areas. Observations of the lunar south pole yield a same-sense polarization enhancement around beta  = 0. Analysis shows that the observed enhancement is localized to the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar south pole. Radar observations of periodically solar-illuminated lunar surfaces, including the north pole, yielded no such enhancement. A probable explanation for these differences is the presence of low-loss volume scatterers, such as water ice, in the permanently shadowed region at the south pole.

S. Nozette, U.S. Air Force Phillips Laboratory, Space Experiments Directorate, 711 North Fayette Street, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA.
C. L. Lichtenberg, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375, USA.
P. D. Spudis, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
R. Bonner and W. Ort, Protasis Incorporated, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA.
E. Malaret, Applied Coherent Technology, Herndon, VA 22070, USA.
M. Robinson and E. M. Shoemaker, U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed.

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Lack of Exposed Ice Inside Lunar South Pole Shackleton Crater.
J. Haruyama, M. Ohtake, T. Matsunaga, T. Morota, C. Honda, Y. Yokota, C. M. Pieters, S. Hara, K. Hioki, K. Saiki, et al. (2008)
Science 322, 938-939
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New Views of Lunar Geoscience: An Introduction and Overview.
H. Hiesinger and J. W. Head III (2006)
Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 60, 1-81
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Topography of the Lunar Poles from Radar Interferometry: A Survey of Cold Trap Locations.
J. L. Margot, D. B. Campbell, R. F. Jurgens, and M. A. Slade (1999)
Science 284, 1658-1660
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Lunar Prospector: Overview.
A. B. Binder (1998)
Science 281, 1475-1476
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Fluxes of Fast and Epithermal Neutrons from Lunar Prospector: Evidence for Water Ice at the Lunar Poles.
W. C. Feldman, S. Maurice, A. B. Binder, B. L. Barraclough, R. C. Elphic, and D. J. Lawrence (1998)
Science 281, 1496-1500
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The Possibility of Ice on the Moon.
S. J. Weidenschilling;, S. Nozette, E. M. Shoemaker, P. Spudis, C. L. Lichtenberg;, N. J. Stacy, D. B. Campbell, and P. G. Ford; (1997)
Science 278, 144-145
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Arecibo Radar Mapping of the Lunar Poles: A Search for Ice Deposits.
N. J. S. Stacy, D. B. Campbell, and P. G. Ford (1997)
Science 276, 1527-1530
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)