NASA's $73 Million Water-Finding Trick

An anonymous reader writes "The folks at NASA, obviously looking for new ways to explore the universe, are planning to crash a two-ton probe into the moon. The goal? To find water." From the article: "NASA plans a series of robotic precursor missions including the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, which will plow into the crater, and the mapper, called the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. When LCROSS strikes the crater, it is expected to create a hole 16 feet deep and send up a 2.2 million-pound (998,000-kg) plume of debris for sensors and cameras stationed on a second spacecraft to monitor. Dozens of ground-based telescopes, as well as possibly space observatories, such as the Hubble telescope, will be trained on the plume as well."

Comments

THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS!

[EGSonikku]

Since i'm positive someone will post it, i'll debunk it ahead of time.

"WHAT IF WE DESTROY THE MOON!?"

It won't. A good anaology would be crashing the empire state building into Wyoming. It would look sorta cool, but that's about it.

"WHAT ABOUT DESTROYING NATURE!?"
Well, the moon in a dead chunk of former Earth material which has no atmosphere and certainly no ecology. And as stated previously, the explosion won't be all that neat on a planetary scale. The Moon has taken much much worse hits from meteors and what not.

So basically, break out your telescopes in '08 and enjoy the show.

Re:THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS!

[Jerf]

Close; I believe the usual question is actually "WHAT IF WE CHANGE THE MOON'S ORBIT?", actually.

Also something about wondering if we smash enough things into the moon if we'll lower the Earth's gravity and make the Moon heavier. For extra bonus points ask if someday (presumably "someday" in the near-enough future that the question actually concerns the asker) that will cause the Earth and Moon to collide.

For double extra bonus points, be worried about the possible effect on the Earth's climate all these massive cosmic changes will be having.

I'm not being totally sarcastic; I've seen the equivalent of all of these, even that last one, posted on this very site.

Re:THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS!

[scotch]

Wow, send a letter to NASA, they obviously haven't thought this through. If even an uneducated arm-chair space-exploration critic like yourself can point out the many flaws in their mission after having thought about it for scant minutes and knowing very little about anything, then the mission is clearly deeply flawed. Thank you sir, your efforts could very well save those NASA scoundrels from wasting another $73million! Don't be surprised if you get called up to provide your valuable insights on all future NASA missions!

Re:Woot!

[networkBoy]

Yes, but:

What is the cost per pound for GEO lift? (this will need at least that much), and how much does this highly scientific bullet weigh?
Certainly a fleet of mars style rovers (which have proven their mettle) would cost no more to lift and produce tons more science?

Just a thought.
-nB

Will this be visible to the naked eye?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Okay, I admit, I'm a bit of a bumpkin when it comes to understanding the scale of all this. I was just curious: Would this be visible to the naked eye?

Why do I ask? I was watching some show on Discovery or History Channel several years ago. They said that in the 1600's or so some monks prayed for a sign, then they looked up at the sky and saw the moon on ... of all things... fire. There was a theory that a large meteor struck the moon and put on a light show. I was just curious if a.) Anybody knows about the story I'm referring to and can point me at the right search terms to find it and b.) if there's an off-shoot chance that Nasa's going to pull a stunt that'll result in some group of people suddenly dropping to their knees and praying.