NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Credit: ISRO/NASA/JHUAPL/LPI

Click to view larger Mini-SAR image
Click to view larger Clementine image

At left is the large, ancient crater Hermite (104 kilometers [64.5 miles] in diameter), located near the north pole of the moon. This large, very old feature is filled with light plains materials (see the image from the Clementine mission, at right). Some craters within Hermite, such as the prominent bowl-shaped crater on Hermite’s floor (marked by the red arrow), are in permanent sun shadow. Dark areas near the pole are extremely cold and could be locations of water ice deposits. Work continues to reduce the Mini-SAR data to determine if any ice is present on the moon.