Technical comment on "Hydrogen mapping of the lunar South Pole using the LRO neutron detector experiment LEND".

Based on a study of high-energy epithermal (HEE) neutrons in data from the Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND) on NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), the background from HEE neutrons is larger than initially estimated. Claims by Mitrofanov et al. (Reports, 22 October 2010, p. 483) of enhanced hydrogen abundance in sunlit portions of the lunar south pole and quantitative hydrogen concentration values in south pole permanently shaded regions are therefore insufficiently supported.