Moon-exploration planners at NASA are seeking ideas wherever they can find them for living on the lunar surface. To guide the process, they've decided to mount a two-shot impactor mission to the Moon's south pole early in 2009 to see if there really is water there. The new Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission aims to send two high-speed pro-jectiles hurtling into the shadowed floor of the Shackleton Crater, where scientists suspect ancient water ice may lie preserved in the permanently dark, deep freeze there. By kicking a plume of surface debris high enough for Earth- and space-based sensors to analyze it, LCROSS engineers hope to settle the question once and for all.
展开▼
