Sonatine 11542 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Nasa Scientists 'Bomb' Moon's Surface SkyNews © Sky News 2009 Nasa scientists have "bombed" the Moon with two spacecraft, but the effect of the violent planned collision was not immediately visible in live images. The projectiles were crashed at the lunar south pole in an attempt to kick up a six-mile high dust cloud that may contain water. British researchers helped Nasa pick the spot for the attempt, which was broadcast live on the American space agency's website. The Cabeus south polar region was identified by the University of Durham team as a site with high concentrations of hydrogen - a key component of water. It is believed water ice could lie at the bottom of dark craters at the Moon's poles, where temperatures are lower than minus 170C. The spacecraft consisted of a LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) and its 2.2 tonne empty Centaur launch rocket. They had been attached since blasting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida in June. The probe and rocket separated, then the larger rocket smashed into a narrow, shaded crater. It was hoped the impact would throw 350 tonnes of debris over six miles into the air, making the event watchable from Earth, but initial images showed no evidence of a flash or a dust cloud. Following close behind, the LCROSS satellite then plunged into the crater itself. LCROSS was expected to trigger its own dust cloud a third of the size of the first one. As the debris is propelled into sunlight, scientists on Earth will study its composition with ground-based telescopes. Dr Vincent Eke, from the Institute for Computational Cosmology at the University of Durham, said: "Water ice could be stable for billions of years on the Moon provided that it is cold enough. "If ice is present in the permanently shaded lunar craters of the Moon then it could potentially provide a water source for the eventual establishment of a manned base on the Moon. "Such a base could be used as a platform for exploration into the further reaches of our Solar System." Bet the Clangers and the Soup Dragon weren't too happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1892 0 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Bombing Alien/ET bases tbh. [/conspiracy] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adios 717 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Bombing Alien/ET bases tbh. [/conspiracy] Don't be silly, they're just taking out the Nazi moon bases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My Kids Support Chelsea!! 0 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Bombing Alien/ET bases tbh. [/conspiracy] Don't be silly, they're just taking out the Nazi moon bases. You are both wrong. They heard that Osama has a training camp there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Kenneth Noisewater 0 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Bit of an anti-climax wasn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooner 243 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 was reading that they thik the crater may have been deeper than they originally thought and therefore the plume of debris would not have reached sun light and therefore not shown up to the star gazing crew........so yeah total anti-climax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 31203 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Just checked, still there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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