Lunar probes in the last decade have revealed a great deal of new information about the Moon’s polar regions, and what might be found inside the deeper craters where sunlight hasn’t shone for millions of years. Ice crystals left behind by cometary impacts may have accumulated inside these pitch-black polar deep freezers. Enough ice to sustain colonization and exploitation of the Moon as a space exploration staging point.

Peary Crater is a prime candidate for permanent settlement, as it has a rare set of environmental resources that can be tapped by colonists.

• The north-west rim of the crater (seen above along the 30 degrees-west meridian) is high enough and close enough to the pole to be bathed in sunlight every hour of the Moon’s 27 day, 7 hour and 43.2 minute day. Nearly every other site on the Moon must contend with at least a portion of the Moon’s two-week darkness.
• Constant sunlight can be counted upon as a reliable energy source, as well as maintaining a constant temperature on the surface at the colony site.
• The south-east region of the crater, and some of the smaller craters inside, are permanently dark and -173 degrees C. Billions of cubic meters of water ice crystals are lying just under the regolith in thousands of square kilometers around the polar region.
• Rover harvesters can process the first few meters of the crater’s soil, extracting water ice crystals and other volatiles. The chemical makeup of this material will provide invaluable clues to the early history of our solar system.
• Water ice can be processed into potable water, converted to oxygen and hydrogen gas through electrolysis, and for reaction mass in rocket boosters. It cannot be overstated how valuable a local source of water is to a colony.
• Unoccupied dark craters provide an excellent platform for astronomical observation, thanks to low temperatures and low solar interference.

http://www.spudislunarresources.com/moon101/moon_101_polar.pdf

In the next few days we’ll be putting together the first primitive model of one of these colonies, stay tuned!