NASA has unveiled plans for an extraordinary experiment, one that will hopefully come to a dramatic conclusion with the crash a rocket booster into the surface of the moon followed by a six-mile high explosion.
UPDATE: Check out video of the Centaur’s crash landing and the last seconds of LCROSS.
The crash will mark the end of a four-month mission for the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS). The mission, directed from NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, will explore the craters near the south pole of the moon. Water, as a source of both hydrogen and oxygen, could be used to fuel further lunar exploration.
The mission’s endgame is brilliantly described on Siliconvalley.com:
The 1,664-pound spacecraft (LCROSS)will have the best view. LCROSS will separate from the Centaur booster less than 10 hours before impact and will be less than 400 miles above the moon when the spent rocket booster collides at a speed five times faster than a bullet from a .44 Magnum. NASA plans to stream a live view from LCROSS as the Centaur, followed by the spacecraft, plows into the moon.
As LCROSS trails the booster rocket into oblivion, its onboard instruments will search the debris cloud for traces of water.
[Siliconvalley via Geekologie]
Check out a video of NASA’s prelaunch briefing and our LCROSS picture gallery on the next page.
[…] NASA LCROSS mission reached its conclusion approximately two days ago, when two spacecraft slammed into the surface of […]