http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46871204/ns/technology_and_science-space/#.T3JlIGGxZ8E

“New evidence from the first probe to orbit Mercury is building support for the idea that the tiny planet may be harboring water ice in some of its most extreme terrain.”

“The Messenger probe’s Mercury findings are not conclusive, though. Those bright spots could represent some other substance, the researchers said. Plus, some pieces of evidence don’t fit together perfectly.”

I have long suspected NASA of holding out hopes for signs of life, the possibility of life, or the origins of the (pick one) Earth, solar system, universe as reasons for various space missions.  And I suspect more than some of it is true.  And I’ve suspected they’ve overblown it.  I doubt there was a lot to find on the Moon, for instance, that wasn’t known before Apollo.

And I think that water ice on Mercury is a stretch.  And, truth be known, I really don’t know anything about it except that Mercury is alleged to be hot.  I know that because the “mining Mercury” sci-fi books I read as a kid stressed it, and the miners had to wear thick, bulky suits to protect themselves from the heat.  As they dug out the caves in which they lived.  And shipped the invaluable ores back to Earth on ferry craft which called at regular intervals, bringing supplies with them.