NASA's LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observing and Sensing Satellite) mission is coming to a glorious end. The mission launched on June 18, 2009 is just minutes away from making dual-impact on the face of the moon. The first impact sees the Centaur craft hitting the surface at a speed of about 1 mile per second ejecting about 350 tons of debris from a crater about 20-30-meters in diameter and 2- to 4-meters deep. A second Shepherding spacecraft will pass through the debris plume 4 minutes later, collecting and relaying data back to Earth in real-time before meeting its end. With any luck, we'll know shortly if the moon contains the water-ice theorized by scientists... and cheese. While the obvious use of lunar-based water is to sate the thirst of astronauts, it could also be used be make fuel for off-Earth exploration. Hit the read link for live streaming of the mission from NASA -- first impact occurs at 07:31:19 AM EDT.
Update: Impact occurred... are we still here? Data is now being analyzed and NASA is expected to know the facts in about an hour. Post-impact news conference scheduled for 10:00 AM EDT.
Update 2: Video added after the break showing the final minutes before impact. The highlight seems to be the denied high-5 at 5:00 minutes in.
posted October 9th 2009 7:15AM
Man denied Hi Five at the end.. OWNED!
It would be nice to find water, but what they are REALLY looking for is helium-3 to online a fusion reactor in southern France by 2030. helium-3 is cast off from the sun and get reflect by Earth magnetic field, so barely any exists on the Earth. However the moon been collecting it for billions of years.
Also think the military was interested in the test for the whole 'rod from god' plan that issues in 2005, should be operational in 2013 making nukes useless.
@ aardWolf: No, just because he is black i assume he is black. And for the looks of it he's not even on the official team pic: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/multimedia/LCROSS_Team_Photo.html
An act of war committed on this day of Nobel & Peace & Prizes galore?
I just threw up a little bit in my mouth...
What a waste of money and resources. Could someone please explain to me how we can benefit from this?
Benefit is this:
Moon has H3 (Hydrogen 3) in huge amounts. google it. A cup of the stuff can power your home for years, and is a super clean source of energy. H3 is given off by the sun. Earth's magnetic field diverts it from reaching our planet, but the Moon has been accumulating its surface for eons.
Currently, we are witnessing the beginning of an international race to stake property claim on the Moon. H3 can not only power the planet, but be used as a launch platform to other planets as well.
LCROSS impact was a necessary step in finding water ice. You know. As in water. H2O. We are made of this stuff. And if it exists there, we don't have to bring our own..
Anyways, those bitching that this was a waste of money, is like bitching about the huge cost of drill bits back in the day, searching for oil..
OMG don't get me started on the crazy price of drill bits. Damn you Black & Decker!!!
Lemme ask you this, do you believe there's no benefits in science period?
At the 5:00min mark the guy wanted a high-five and he was left hanging haha
Woot i just crashed my car into a house *raises hand for a high five*
Did 'science' confirm it was a total LOS? Else your mission was fail.
WHA?!
at 4:09-4:10 it looks like a angry eye is in the camera
WHAT A DICK! at the end of the video dude man wanted a high five.
what kinda world! do we live on! were throwing shit at the moon doesnt get a high five!?
Kowalski from NASA reports:
Oxygen content: Surprisingly high!
Moon Cheese content: Disappointingly low.
In the words of Martin the Martian (Looney Tunes)-where was the BOOM?! there was supposed to be a BOOM?
water on the moon.. hmm hopefully.. but the most important part here is that people need to respect one another.. if a black man wants to high five.. give him the damn high five!.white guy left him hangin...XD..
So when did they move NASA into the abandoned Circuit City down the road?
Why does Engadget make low and lowest ranked comments unreadable?
To prevent reply threads?
so where was that next update?
Ok.,...i have a real question here
has anyone at NASA imagined this scenario when they prepared to make a base on the moon.....
when you look at the moon is like looking at scarface just after he said say hello to my little friend.....now what are the adds that their advance station in 2020 won't be hit by a bullet....
I actually own two acres on the moon, and if I find out that they hit my land, it's on.
You can own the moon too! www.lunarembassy.com
Oh damnit, I've been had.
10/6/09 : Man finds H3
12/20/12 : Man brings back H3
12/21/12 :
lol i see what you did there. good man lol
Fuck water... it's the cheese I'm after.
its the undiscovered country!!!!!!!!!!
Hi guys. I have a question about the procedure of NASA to detect water on the moon's surface. The Centaur rocket burns hydrogen and oxygen to generate thrust so, I wonder if at the point when it collides to the Moon, there is enough hydrogen and oxygen in the tanks to start and igniton and generate enough water to confuse the LCROSS instruments and hide the real water content of the moon's soil.
What do you think?