NASA Blasts Moon

Just as the sun breached the horizon early Friday morning Oct. 9 EST, NASA launched what was essentially a missile into the Southern surface of the Moon. The mission: confirm the presence of water.

Exploding into the Moon’s surface at more than 5,000mph, the rocket (Centaur) was supposed to produce a dust cloud large enough to be seen from Earth with use of at least a 10” telescope. Unfortunately, the visual fireworks failed, but NASA officials still deemed the mission a success by the amount of data collected. The LCROSS, which launched Centaur into the Moon, was then sent in to collect data from the unsettled debris.

Controversy still surrounds NASA’s strategy-of-choice to confirm water on the Moon. Many claim that the method was much too violent, and NASA could have extracted the same amount of data using more conventional methods. It’s unclear whether the mission has had a significant impact, or will cause later issues, to the Moon itself. India’s Chandrayaan MIP (Moon Impact Probe) was actually the first to detect Hydrogen on the Moon’s surface in June 2009 using NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3). There is indeed presence of water on the Moon embedded in the rocks and minerals.

The long-term goal of the project is to determine if there is enough water available on the Moon to support a lunar outpost. Or maybe, if you’re a skeptic, there are ulterior motives to this ‘Moon bombing mission.’

Picture used from New.com.au