  Carbon is one of the most essential elements to support a sustained human
presence in space, and more immediately, several large-scale methalox-based
transport systems will begin operating in the near future. This raises the
question of whether indigenous carbon on the Moon is abundant and concentrated
to the extent where it could be used as a viable resource including as
propellant. Here, I assess potential sources of lunar carbon based on previous
work focused on polar water ice. A simplified model is used to estimate the
temperature-dependent Carbon Content of Ices at the lunar poles, and this is
combined with remote sensing data to estimate the total amount of carbon and
generate a Carbon Favorability Index that highlights promising deposits for
future ground-based prospecting. Hotspots in the index maps are identified, and
nearby staging areas are analyzed using quantitative models of trafficability
and solar irradiance. Overall, the Moon is extremely poor in carbon sources
compared to more abundant and readily accessible options at Mars. However, a
handful of polar regions may contain appreciable amounts of subsurface
carbon-bearing ices that could serve as a rich source in the near term, but
would be easily exhausted on longer timescales. Four of those regions were
found to have safe nearby staging areas with equatorial-like illumination at a
modest height above the surface. Any one of these sites could yield enough C, H
and O to produce propellant for hundreds of refuelings of a large spacecraft.
Other potential lunar carbon sources including bulk regolith and pyroclastic
glasses are less viable due to their low carbon concentrations.
