Home > Ephemeris Program, Space exploration, The Moon > Ephemeris: 08/05/2025 – Why space faring nations are fixated on the Moon’s South Pole

Ephemeris: 08/05/2025 – Why space faring nations are fixated on the Moon’s South Pole

August 5, 2025

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, August 5th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 28 minutes, setting at 9:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:35. The Moon, halfway from first quarter to full, will set at 3:06 tomorrow morning.

After more than 50 years since the Apollo landings on the Moon, space faring nations are beginning to be interested in one particular place on the Moon for further exploration. That is the lunar South Pole. The reason is the discovery of something more valuable than gold. That there may be water hidden in permanently shadowed craters there. The moon’s North Pole is not as rugged, so there’s probably not as much water there. Water can exist on the Moon but only in its frozen form, ice in permanently shadowed craters. The Moon’s axial tilt is only about 1 1/2° compared to the Earth’s 23 1/2°. The water molecule is the second most abundant in the universe after diatomic hydrogen, but normally cannot exist this close to the Sun.

The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Map of water at the Moon's poles
The Moon’s south pole area on the left and north pole on the right. The cyan color shows shadowed areas where ice is located. Credit NASA
South pole ice
The south pole of the Moon where the presence of water ice is detected by the absorption of neutrons by the hydrogen atoms in the ice. Credit NASA/GSFC/SVS/Roscosmos.
Categories: Ephemeris Program, Space exploration, The Moon Tags: