Image: Artists rendering of LCROSS spacecraft / NASA
Many citizens of the world were unaware that the U.S. via NASA plans to bomb the moon on October 9, 2009 though some Americans were informed via late night comedy monologues last night.
As of this writing, it is not too late to view this lunar explosion live and plenty of post moon bombing photos will be available. See online and offline options, including NASA TV video details, below.
So why is NASA bombing the moon? It is not a show of military might as the volatile news headlines may imply. Rather the officially named LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite)
mission has multiple purposes and tapping into the moon’s frozen water reserves is the most frequently referenced goal.
Launched last month, the half-billion dollar Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is on a year-long exploration mission. This includes isolating potential landing sites for future astronauts, obtaining updated maps of the moon's surface and better assessing the moon’s environment.
Meanwhile the LRO has been focused on the craters located on moon's south pole as a potential source of frozen water. While we won’t soon see bottled moon water on the shelves any time soon, such a discovery would impact future lunar exploration. Melted moon ice could provide hydrogen for fuel, for instance. The Cabeus crater was selected as the target for October 9.
Last month, studies published in the journal Science concluded "that the moon is saturated with at least hydrogen and oxygen, the ingredients of water—ending years of speculation," according to National Geographic.
NASA describes the moon bombing event in many ways, but the LCROSS flight crew blog provides one of the most evocative descriptions:
"Just imagine. A spaceship plunges out of the night sky, hits the ground and explodes. A plume of debris billows back into the heavens, leading your eye to a second ship in hot pursuit. Four minutes later, that one hits the ground, too. It's raining spaceships!"
Don't blow up the moon!
Not everyone is happy about slamming a missle into the moon. Facebook, for instance, contains verbal and video pleas for the LCROSS crew and NASA not to "blow up the moon." On the Current TV site one commenter states "
... [I] can think of maybe a hundred reasons not to do this. chief among them is that it's a colossal waste of money."
Loosely organized petitions against the moon bombing are also on the Internet. One can be found on Care2. If you prefer a bit more lofty discussion on the pros and cons -- geek jargon included -- try Slashdot.
Yet "Good Luck" sentiments to the LCROSS crew are plentiful as well. Scientists state that the moon will not be harmed by the mission.
How to view the moon bombing
Date: October 9, 2009
3:15 a.m. PST (pre-impact)
4:31 a.m. PST -- Moon Impact
7:00 a.m. -- LCROSS Post-Impact News Conference
As for watching live video of the moon bombing or viewing post-explosion photos and updates, there are several options online. Additionally, people located West of the Mississippi may see the crash and boom with a sufficient telescope of at least 10 to 12 inches in diameter. See the NASA Impact Viewers Guide.
Moon bombing live feeds and updates can be found at:
LCROSS via Twitter with updates, also check hashtag #lcross for twitter chatter
Alternate: SLOOH telescope system
Moon bombing and LCROSS slideshows Huffington Post
(stay tuned for updates here)
Sources:
NASA.gov
Comments
what is the point of doing this omgosh we are going to die, stop trying to kill us people y y r u doing this to humans do u wan to die early???????
Why are you doing this to us? You already blew up Pluto.
we all luv the moon y hurt it is so pretty plx plx plx plx plx plx plx no dont do it if that goes away then like we will blow up too an dneed to c the moon wen i go to bed and it looks so pretty dont u ever hurt the moon it is the narture and u people r killing the plante u dum people dont do it !!!!!!
hey i think u should be blow up would u like that i dont think so !!!!
why would you want to blow up our night time light source? and the place where we first went to the moon? God people are dumb these days..
wat did the moon ever do to u people !!!!!!! u r poops
Y YYyyyYy ????? wat did the moon do wrong !!!
okay if i ever c one of u guys u will never wish u blow up the moon !!!!
come on people on HALLOWEEN DONT U WANT TO C THE MOON HOW PRETTY IT IS AND HOW IT SPARCKLEY AND BEAUTHFUL AND HOW MUCH WE LUV IT WELL NOW IS THE TIME TO START UP IF WE WRITE SO MANY COMMETS MAYBE THEY WILL STOP SO START RIGTH NOW AND HELP US SAVE THE MOON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YAY!!!
Who's brilliant idea outside of NASA was this and who has the authority to bomb the moon????...Isn't it a celestial body with no property claim? Does the U.S. own the moon? NO!!! What does Obama say on this? What if the missle misses????? Screw up one planet and move on...great solution!
I don't think they would do this if there was the possibility that it would kill humanity. They're not blowing up the entire thing into millions of little pieces (do we even have the technology for that?), they're slamming a rocket into it. The moon has already been hit by hundreds of meteors, and it/we are still around.
ksdjf -- don't think is right. Who invented the nuclear bomb and who is killing the planet...humans with high IQs and no sense of consequence. The NASA moon bombing will likely pose little immediate threat but who knows ....
aside from violating international law, this is perhaps the biggest waste of money since cash for clunkers! who cares if there is water on the moon? this is why we should cut the nasa budget. although, if they do blow up the moon, perhaps women would be less irritable come their time of the month. nah... it aint worth it... leave the moon alone!
senter- actually a lot of the people who created the idea of the nuclear bomb thought it was awful and should never be created or used. Also plenty of people with small IQs are ruining our planet. I imagine you will wake up for school or work and never notice the difference. They aren't "blowing up the moon" they are letting their satellite hit a crater (meaning something bigger has already hit the moon and done nothing too harmful to it or us) Also I imagine they couldn't do this without our government and other major international governments approving it. People should calm down, quit freaking out that we're going to die. I'm sure they have plenty of people researching and studying exactly what would happen when they did this. You want to cut science? Think of the all the things we have in our lives because of science first.
put nicole on the moon then let er rip
its just another typical american arrogance
i mean hey theres craters in the usa why not bomb one of them for water??????
hey the people that want to blow up some of the moon i dont care about u cause look at this there r people that r so hurgy out there and u want to waste all that money to this so and i will never forget these people that did this to the moon wta did the da moon ever do us just think about that and how people how want to have a moon out at night and how much we all luv the moon and i think that we all should just let this go to hurgy people and how have nothing so think about wat i said plx
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