NASA bom moon for water
NASA plans to bomb the moon’s south pole with an unmanned spacecraft launched in October 2008, tossing up a cloud of lunar debris that will be visible to Earth-based observatories, the space agency announced Monday.
A satellite will fly through the 30-to-40-mile-high dust plume to search for evidence of water ice left by comets that slammed into the moon billions of years ago.
The crash vehicle, called an impactor, and observational instruments will be added to NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Already slated for launch, the orbiter will map the moon’s surface in unprecedented detail, taking a fresh look at the rugged south and north pole terrain to assist with the selection of landing sites for human expeditions.
The $600 million plan outlined on Monday represents an early milestone in the strategy outlined by President Bush two years ago to send astronauts back to the moon to prepare for the eventual human exploration of Mars.
