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No dust plume from Lunar Prospecter

Posted by Hemos on from the no-water-no-life dept.

Calmacil writes "Lunar Prospector hit the moon, and made no dust plume. Thus, no water was found :( "Darnit, there goes my moon base.

10 of 145 comments (clear)

  1. First Man Buried on the Moon! by Matter+Eating+Lad · · Score: 3
    The real story here is that there's a new man on the moon... Eugene Shoemaker!!! Some of his ashes were carried by the spacecraft. Must admit I teared up at the thought of good old Eugene finally making it to the Moon.

    Here's a blurb...

  2. Still, some good accomplished by DarkClown · · Score: 3

    At least NASA is recycling unused materials from previous missions that wouldn't have been used otherwise. Perhaps they should hurl that module they recovered from the ocean (the Grissom one) at Redmond and study the plume that wafts up.

  3. Re:Not proven. by SEWilco · · Score: 3
    NASA/AMES news release extract says there was no plume, and analysis may require several days. Hitting the crater wall was more likely to kick up dust horizontally. The best result which could cause a dust plume would have been if the impact hit a buried chunk of ice, suddently converting the remaining energy into an underground steam explosion. I wouldn't mind if it hit a frozen lake, giving off nothing but an isolated thunderstorm with scattered solar panel flurries.

    Amateurs with scopes up to 31 inches saw nothing, other than 3 reports of a brief flash nearby. Such flashes have been reported at other times when mountains are illuminated as the Moon rotates, or assorted rocks hit. Even now at lunar noon we're viewing the south pole area at a low angle which increases the chances of reflections. Whatever the flash was, it is unusual enough that it's interesting.

  4. Don't give up yet by Scurrilous+Knave · · Score: 4

    Don't give up on that moonbase just yet, Hemos. Check out the info on the Artemis Project web site. They intend to establish a permanent moonbase within the next several years, and start commercial tourist flights soon thereafter. All totally private, no government involvement. Where is the money coming from? To quote their FAQ, "shameless commercialism"! They have a pretty convincing business plan, that results in ordinary slobs like me being able to take a vacation on the moon within my lifetime. They need skills of all sorts, so go see 'em.

  5. Good.. by Uart · · Score: 3

    I'm glad it didn't work, because if it did, Al Gore would have taken credit for inventing the moon.

    But seriously, I was hoping for a moonbase too... I guess I'll have to bring some bottled water or something... And I would need plenty of it for my moon-penguins..... muahaha

    --

    Opinionated Law Student Strikes Again!
  6. Re:water and fuel by SEWilco · · Score: 3
    You are assuming that solar cells are the only power source. There's also unfiltered sunlight which can be focused as a heat source to drive a turbine (generate electricity), heat lunar soil (releasing gases from the soil and refining metals), or crack water (high heat can break water into hydrogen and oxygen).

    Imagine the kind of mirrors that can be built in 0.6 G...

  7. No dust plume = good by Knara · · Score: 3

    If you read the CNN article they have a comment from a JPL/NASA scientist who said that the lack of a dust plume is a good thing, because it means they didn't hit the crater wall. They wanted to hit on the bottom of the crater so they could get deep enough into the surface to expose/explode the water into space

  8. Lunar-Mars Life Support Test Project by reed · · Score: 3

    i remember reading an article in wired about a year ago abour the Lunar-Mars Life Support Test Project.

    from the LMLSTP Phase III home page:

    The Phase III 90-Day Human Test ended on December 19, 1997. The crew completed 91 days in the chamber, setting the record for the longest duration human closed chamber test in the United States. The Advanced Life Support System (ALSS) concept is that a human life support system, supplying food, water, and oxygen can operate indefinitely in space without resupply from Earth. This system is open with respect to energy but closed with respect to mass. This means regenerative or recycling technologies must be used.
    As part of the overall technology development effort, a series of tests have been scheduled called the Lunar-Mars Life Support Test Project (LMLSTP), formerly known as the Early Human Testing Initiative (EHTI). The first test, EHTI Phase I, was performed in August, 1995, in the 10 foot chamber, known as the Variable Pressure Growth Chamber, located in building 7B at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). The second test, LMLSTP Phase II, was performed in June, 1996, in a 20 foot chamber, known as the Life Support Systems Integration Facility, located in building 7 at JSC.
    The LMLSTP Phase IIA, begun on January 13, 1997, was the third human test to validate regenerative life support technologies. This test used hardware representative of International Space Station, scheduled for first launch in 1998.

    wired article: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/6.06/mars.html

    LMLSTP index page: http://pet.jsc.nasa.gov/lmlstp.html

    rh

  9. Re:Last burn too hot by SEWilco · · Score: 3

    The last altitude-raising burn was hot. The actual last burn took place behind the moon just before impact. This last burn on the last orbit changed the orbit to a collision course, and this last burn was adjusted to compensate for the previous burn.
    Remember, this is rocket science performed by rocket scientists...

  10. Water really convenient. by SEWilco · · Score: 3
    Water is not essential, but it would be very convenient. It is easy to purify or separate and has many uses either as water or as hydrogen and oxygen. Having water there would be much easier than transporting or making more.

    The Moon is 20% oxygen by weight but most is tightly locked in minerals. One which might not be too hard is iron oxide, such as the Apollo 17 orange soil.

    There is 10 billion tons of hydrogen in the surface rocks due to volatiles in the solar wind, which is 96 percent hydrogen. I don't know if we could collect H directly from solar wind.