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How NASA Will Bomb the Moon To Find Water

mattnyc99 writes "A few weeks ago we got first word of NASA's plan to crash a spacecraft into the moon next February. The new issue of Popular Mechanics has an in-depth look at the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite and its low-cost, lightning-fast mission prep — even if delays have pushed it to late February or early March. Quoting: 'Andrews had no budget for an expensive lander to seek water, and conditions in the eternally dark polar craters would kill rovers, with temperatures close to minus 300 F. Instead, Blue Ice and its partners at Northrop Grumman came up with a concept to bring the lunar floor out in the open.... Since engineering precision hardware would break the budget, the LCROSS team had to make existing components work together.'"

21 of 280 comments (clear)

  1. Bomb what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Next they'll bomb Uranus in order to find it's filled with gas.

    1. Re:Bomb what? by gfxguy · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm still waiting for them to rename that planet to Urectum to stop the stupid jokes.

      --
      Stupid sexy Flanders.
    2. Re:Bomb what? by protein+folder · · Score: 2, Funny

      Udamnnearkilledum would also be acceptable.

      --
      Your mind is squeezed by a blast of pain!
  2. percussion engineering! by notgm · · Score: 5, Funny

    I hit stuff to fix it all the time, why shouldn't they?

    1. Re:percussion engineering! by Notquitecajun · · Score: 2, Funny

      Good Ol' Emergency Repair Plan A

    2. Re:percussion engineering! by slittle · · Score: 3, Funny

      "Percussive maintenance"

      --
      Opportunity knocks. Karma hunts you down.
  3. That Old Mr. Show bit by Hoplite3 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "The United States can, should, and will BLOW UP THE MOON!"

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHpX5aa5Lz4

    --
    Use the Firehose to mod down Second Life stories!
  4. Bombing the Moon for water? by BitterOldGUy · · Score: 5, Funny
    You mean liberate the Moon, don't you?

    And I find the 'water' reason to be pretty transparent. We all know that there's oil up there and this is yet another neo-con plan that's going to suck us into another war to boost Bush's ratings. But when images of those poor Amazon women up there start coming back, it's jut going to blowup in their faces like Iraq did, and further depress our economy.

  5. Re:The Time Machine by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Funny

    In that movie, construction was starting on the moon. To kick off the construction, a large bomb was set off. The result, the moon cracked in half and people eventually started to eat each other.

    Geez, a plot like that'd make me crack the DVD in half and eat it.
         

  6. Fahrenheit? by oldspewey · · Score: 2, Funny

    temperatures close to minus 300 F

    1850 called. They want their unit of measure back.

    --
    If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
    1. Re:Fahrenheit? by oldspewey · · Score: 2, Funny

      Since TFA is actually about smashing things into the moon rather than landing softly, I'm gonna pick the USSR as my winner.

      --
      If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
  7. Risk of retaliation by dkleinsc · · Score: 5, Funny

    The good news is that the Loonies can't do anything about it. I mean, all they could do is throw rocks at us, and what good would that do?

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    I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
  8. Re:Wasn't this the plot of that Time Machine Remak by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Funny

    My God. Has the IQ of Slashdot dropped twenty points in the last fifteen minutes?

    It's a bit hard to tell but I'm afraid you're on to something. We seem to be getting more "whoosh" posts before the joke.

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  9. Re:Have they exceeded their authority? by GigG · · Score: 2, Funny

    What the hell is going on here? Did all of you people click the link for stupid pills offered in a spam e-mail?

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    Is buying a Harley Davidson as your first motorcycle since you were 16 at age 49 a midlife crisis issue?
  10. Re:Wasn't this the plot of that Time Machine Remak by rhyder128k · · Score: 3, Funny
    You obviously don't know much about the science behind how they invented the moon. Because there isn't gravity on the moon, any small knock, no matter how small, could send it flying off into outer space. This ACTUALLY HAPPENED in a TV series called Space 1999.

    Look up gravity on the internet, if you don't believe me. I don't like the idea of loosing the moon just for sake of an experiment.

    --
    Michael Reed, freelance tech writer.
  11. Re:Earth's Orbit? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    African or European fly?

  12. sounds like a warped 60s slogan by circletimessquare · · Score: 1, Funny

    "stop the nukes"

    "yeah yeah right on!"

    "save the whales"

    "you got that right brother!"

    "bomb the moon"

    "right... i mean, what?"

    "bomb the moon with love, man"

    "oh right, right, bomb the moon with love!"

    "nuke the whales"

    "ummm..."

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  13. Tricky shot by HangingChad · · Score: 2, Funny

    Apparently to make this work NASA will have to hit the opening of a thermal vent that's less than 2 meters across at the end of a canyon lined with defensive gun placements.

    Many NASAians died getting us this information.

    --
    That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
  14. Re:Ralph Kramden - A Man Before His Time by MikeXpop · · Score: 2, Funny

    "He wasn't an astronaut! He was a TV comedian. And he was just using space travel as a metaphor for beating his wife."

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    Etiquette is etiquette. He kills his mother but he can't wear grey trousers.
  15. This operation will be called... by vivin · · Score: 1, Funny

    Like OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom), this one will be called Operation Moon Freedom (rated G for everyone), or OMFG.

    --
    Vivin Suresh Paliath
    http://vivin.net

    I like
  16. Re:Earth's Orbit? by roc97007 · · Score: 4, Funny

    > Isn't Earth's orbit intimately mingled with it's moon?? How precise can the potential impact be measured in relation to this fact? I think Earth's orbit is fine where it is...

    Sigh. I blame public schooling.

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.