Water ice should also be in other permanently shadowed craters near the lunar poles.

At least there don't seem to be large sheets of it in the soil near the lunar south pole.

Preliminary studies suggest that such a base might be sited at or near the lunar south pole.

To the northwest, about a quarter the way around the lunar pole, is the larger crater Hermite.

A space elevator could be anchored near a lunar pole, though not directly at it.

Spacecraft from several countries have explored the lunar south pole.

The plucky spacecraft has already found hydrogen, the major component of water, at the lunar poles.

The lunar south pole is situated in a huge depression (leading to 16 km altitude differences over the region).

At that moment, at six o'clock, the lunar pole appeared.

It is located near the south lunar pole on the far side of the Moon, and can only be viewed from orbit.