LPOD Spare Mark Z
A Step Closer to Solving the Riddle of Lunar Water
LCROSS website images montaged by Mark Zambelli
After the hint and confirmation of the detection of hydrogen at the Lunar poles by Clementine and Lunar Prospector (respectively) there has been a determination to seek out answers as to whether or not this signature of water is truly from water-ice hiding in permanently shadowed craters at the Moon's poles. Lunar Prospectors impact failed to generate the science needed to clinch the deal and so the LCROSS mission will step-up and take the necessary measures to finally lay the question to rest.
Launched later this year on the same rocket that carries the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) aloft, this new low-cost mission will spend the better part of three months swinging past the Earth in a unique orbit designed not only to give LRO a chance to get to the Moon first and to return at least a months worth of data from Lunar orbit, but also to increase the impacting booster stage's momentum to maximise the energies involved in creating a plume of debris (hopefully visible from earth in 10" - 12" and larger amateur telescopes) that LCROSS' sensor-laden shepherding-craft will fly through for a few minutes before it too creates a new crater. The majority of the science will be gained in just the last 10 minutes of this brave new undertaking and that data will be eagerly awaited for its implications on man's return to the Moon.
Mark Zambelli
Related Links
Rükl Plate: 73 (or 1?)
Lunar Pathfinder Getting Ready
See the main LCROSS mission site for a full run-down of all the information involved. Article outlining Lunar Prospector's results
Note: this LPOD was contributed by a Wikispaces member while Chuck Wood was attending the March 2008 Lunar & Planetary Science Conference.
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