brentaal Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 NASA Bombing the Moon TodayWe're going back to the moon today- to blow it up! NASA's LCROSS craft at this very moment is on its way for the highly scientific mission of "smashing into the moon's South Pole in an effort to find water. The next time someone says science is boring, feel free to laugh at them. If all goes well, about 7:31AM Eastern/4:31AM Pacific (1:31PM CET, 12:31PM GMT), the two parts of the LCROSS spacecraft will smack into the lunar surface at nearly 6,000 mph, sending up plumes of moon dust ? an maybe a ton of ice ? 6.2 miles high above the moon's Cabeus crater. The purpose of the mission is to discover whether there?s frozen water in the craters near the moon?s south pole. If water is indeed found, it could have very important implications for further human missions on the moon, as a potential source for oxygen (you know why we need that) and hydrogen (for rocket fuel). "Things are looking great. We're headed right for the target," says Daniel Andrews of NASA's Ames Research Center, head of the $79 million Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission. "The very latest data suggest we are headed for one of the very wettest spots on the moon." "There is a very good chance we will see results," says planetary scientist Bernard Foing of the European Space Agency, who is not part of the mission. "Cabeus crater is perfect. Some areas are always in shadow, so we are quite certain these are some of the coldest places for ice in the solar system," as low as minus 360 degrees Fahrenheit. What?s totally cool about this mission is the fact that NASA is providing several of ways to follow the launch and the mission during the next four months. If everything goes as planned, LCROSS should impact the moon in about 111 days. NASA promises the moon won?t be damaged (hummm), but you never know -there might be a Dr. Strangelove on the team. First, you can watch the launch live at NASA TV. You can also follow LCROSS on Facebook and Twitter. Finally, for pictures related to the mission, check out NASA?s Twitpic account. e. The LCROSS will hit the Cabeus A site in the image left at 11:30 AM GMT October 9 - on the near side of the Moon. The Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) is investigating the possibility of water in shadowed craters near the Moon's poles, and we don't mean "looking carefully with telescopes" investigating - we mean "Dirty Harry" investigating, hitting things and shooting at them until you get some answers. The LCROSS craft will drop a fully fueled Centaur rocket booster - yes, the type that you normally use just to get into space - to detonate a fairly impressive amount of the Moon. This will create a huge plume of debris because the moon's gravity is lighter than Earth's, and because you just exploded two thousand kilograms of rocket juice. For a really close look LCROSS will fly right through the debris - possibly while rock music plays in the background - and then, for an even closer look, LCROSS itself will ram the moon and explode. This will be observed by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, and while there aren't yet any plans to make the LRO explode, at this level of Insanely Awesome Science we can't rule anything out. The only thing more exciting than the mission itself is what they're looking for - water ice hidden in permanently shadowed sections of crater walls. A lunar water supply would be massive step towards a manned moonbase within our lifetimes, and if there's anything possibly cooler than exploding over seventy million dollars worth of space technology IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE, it's an actual moonbase. View on NASA TV Source: DailyGalaxy NASA TV LCROSS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si Veteran Posted October 9, 2009 Veteran Share Posted October 9, 2009 Watching this on NASA TV now :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Decryptor Veteran Posted October 9, 2009 Veteran Share Posted October 9, 2009 11 minutes left now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Laughing Man Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Watching! They are having resolution issues, resulting in the 1mb/s feed to go all nutty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brentaal Posted October 9, 2009 Author Share Posted October 9, 2009 Direct link to the stream (in case you want to watch it using VLC or some other player) http://www.nasa.gov/55644main_NASATV_Windows.asx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Hammond Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 I hate this, im all for science but only humans can create such devastation in the name of science. Who gave NASA the right just to smash a satellite in the moon just to see whats under the surface, whos to say that there isnt something living on the moon that we just cant detect at our current state of technological development, sorry for sounding like a crackpot but i dont believe humans should be so arrogant to think that we can do what we want which includes smashing things into things weve only just begun to understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Excellent... we just declared war on the moon! Wonder if they will find the water... that would be interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brentaal Posted October 9, 2009 Author Share Posted October 9, 2009 whos to say that there isnt something living on the moon Such a way of thinking would stop any kind of progress or exploration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Hammond Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 I can see both sides of the argument but what gives us the right to go blowing things up just to see if the theory of ice water is correct??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperJediMedia Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 See Nothing!!! :| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hypoxiaicon Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Do you think debris could bounce off the moons surface and into the earths atmosphere? Alright if you have the money though eh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmaji1 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Jeremy Clarkson here, for once im going to agree with the hampster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0sit0 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Well as Nasa said, mother nature bombs the moon almost every week. I didn't see a thing. What a waste of time lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Decryptor Veteran Posted October 9, 2009 Veteran Share Posted October 9, 2009 I can see both sides of the argument but what gives us the right to go blowing things up just to see if the theory of ice water is correct??? Well, why not? There's nothing living on the moon, we did even less damage to it than nature does, and it teaches us things we couldn't otherwise find out unless we risked human lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brentaal Posted October 9, 2009 Author Share Posted October 9, 2009 what gives us the right You're implying we need to ask someone for permission. Whose permission should we ask for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yxz Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 (edited) http://www.kiloupload.com/file/a68a255b015...c2c72c/moon.asf Edited October 9, 2009 by yxz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rohdekill Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 wow. what an over exaggerated OP article. Bomb? Blow it up? We merely impacted it with an object, two actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperJediMedia Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 I didn't see a thing. What a waste of time lol Nah! Who did saw something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craybox Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Well, why not?There's nothing living on the moon, we did even less damage to it than nature does, and it teaches us things we couldn't otherwise find out unless we risked human lives. well lets just hope that when they want to bore a bit deeper their calculations are correct ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperJediMedia Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 LOL @ Today show Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brentaal Posted October 9, 2009 Author Share Posted October 9, 2009 Nah! Who did saw something? There were aliens. Didn't you see? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob2687 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 I just missed it. :( Turned on NASA TV just when some guy in the control room packed his stuff and left. This other guy tried to give him a high five but he just looked at him grabbed his jacket and left the room. What was up with that? :huh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperJediMedia Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 You missed nothing man! We saw NOTHING!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.F.D.K Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 I just missed it. :( Turned on NASA TV just when some guy in the control room packed his stuff and left. This other guy tried to give him a high five but he just looked at him grabbed his jacket and left the room. What was up with that? :huh: I though i saw that too.. :| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperJediMedia Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Guess the mission was a MASS FAIL!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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