NASA Lunar Temperature Maps

Science Daily, Sept 2009

• "Most notable are the measurements of extremely cold temperatures within the permanently shadowed regions of large polar impact craters in the south polar region,"
• "Their presence greatly increases the likelihood that water or other compounds are frozen there. Diviner has lived up to its name."
• The moon's surface temperatures are among the most extreme of any planetary body in the solar system. Noontime surface temperatures near the lunar equator are hotter than boiling water, while nighttime surface temperatures on the moon are almost as cold as liquid oxygen.
• In the moon's polar regions, temperature maps also point to the locations of cold traps where water ice and other volatile materials may have accumulated.
• Diviner determines the temperature of the moon by measuring the intensity of infrared radiation emitted by the lunar surface. The hotter the surface, the greater the intensity of emitted infrared radiation. 

This mission took place before the one in which an impact into one of these craters proved conclusively the presence of water.

I wanted to see about temperature differences in order to determine if there was a way to exploit that for energy.  It would be a Stirling device.  The hot side would be in the sun and the cold side in the shade.  The great difference in temperatures would offer an opportunity to exploit a temperature gradient for energy production.

Update:

I created a new category called "Moon Madness", which will also be a sidebar entry so that the history of the blog can be followed.