efq
09-10-2009, 10:30 PM
Nasa scientists have "bombed" the south pole of the Moon with two spacecraft in an attempt to kick up a six-mile high dust cloud that may contain water.
A satellite crashed into a lunar crater at around 5,600 miles per hour, followed four minutes later by another spacecraft equipped with cameras to record the impact.
Grainy thermal images carried on Nasa's television station showed colder blue sites and warmer red sites on the moon's surface, but there was no apparent light flash as the rockets made impact.
The space agency had expected the blasts to kick up a visible plume of lunar dirt to an altitude of about six miles and produce a flash of about 30 seconds.
Scientists are now examining the preliminary data from the collision.
"We don't anticipate anything about presence or absence of water immediately. It's going to take us some time," cautioned project scientist Anthony Colaprete.
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.
During the collision mission, the probe and rocket separated, then the larger rocket smashed into a narrow, shaded crater.
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."
Hmm Ok... wasn't really a early warning of this happening though, unless I missed out on it.
Hope they found something.
A satellite crashed into a lunar crater at around 5,600 miles per hour, followed four minutes later by another spacecraft equipped with cameras to record the impact.
Grainy thermal images carried on Nasa's television station showed colder blue sites and warmer red sites on the moon's surface, but there was no apparent light flash as the rockets made impact.
The space agency had expected the blasts to kick up a visible plume of lunar dirt to an altitude of about six miles and produce a flash of about 30 seconds.
Scientists are now examining the preliminary data from the collision.
"We don't anticipate anything about presence or absence of water immediately. It's going to take us some time," cautioned project scientist Anthony Colaprete.
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.
During the collision mission, the probe and rocket separated, then the larger rocket smashed into a narrow, shaded crater.
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."
Hmm Ok... wasn't really a early warning of this happening though, unless I missed out on it.
Hope they found something.