Astronomy current events question: Mercury's north pole water ice

Astronomy 210L, fall semester 2017
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

Kevin Stacey, "New Research Suggests Mercury's Poles are Icier than Scientists Thought" (September 19, 2017)
news.brown.edu/articles/2017/09/mercury

Analysis of reflected laser light from the NASA MESSENGER spacecraft corroborate earlier evidence of large deposits of __________ in craters at Mercury's north pole.
(A) water ice.
(B) rare-earth minerals.
(C) hydrocarbons.
(D) helium-3.
(E) dark matter.

Correct answer: (A)

Student responses
Sections 70178, 70186
(A) : 38 students
(B) : 0 students
(C) : 6 students
(D) : 0 students
(E) : 0 students