NASA bombing the Moon; Finding the facts on the internet

October 7, 10:01 AMIndianapolis Homeschooling ExaminerBetty Malone

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I Cross on its way to the moon from NASA

The news that we are bombing the Moon Friday, October 9, offers your homeschooled or any student the opportunity to do some research on a great astronomical and scientific subject. But it also offers them an opportunity to explore the difference between fact and fantasy and what passes for either on the internet. It's common for Americans to increasingly turn to the internet for information and research and while it can be a great fountain of information flowing into your home, it can also be a sewer spewing untruth and fantasy on any given subject. 

As homeschool families we need to be vigilant about understanding this key fact. Just because someone has an opinion and a computer doesn't make them a reliable source of information. It's always difficult to discern the truth. It takes vigilance and work and confirmation and significant thought. We need to consider the professional validity of the resources we read and site as fact. Just because a hundred websites are spouting hysterical hyperbole that our President is not an American citizen, doesn't make it so, is one good example.

 Here are some of the sources I found and their take on the bombing of the Moon

You can read about the initial launch of the ICROSS satellite at Scientific American. NASA luanched it in in June of 2009 and you can read about that mission in Scientific American.

United States Breaks International Space Law?

Is America breaking  International Space Law by this launch.The U.N. Outer Space Treaty, which the United States and 125 other nations have signed states that, The moon and other celestial bodies shall be used by all States Parties to the Treaty exclusively for peaceful purposes. The establishment of military bases, installations and fortifications, the testing of any type of weapons and the conduct of military maneuvers on celestial bodies shall be forbidden.

Searching for Water
According to NASA scientists the attack on the Moon is not a declaration of war but a deliberate scientific program to see if there is water on the Moon. We have long believed that the Moon was a dry rocky dessert, but new research points to the possibility that ice could be trapped in craters near the south pole. When the bomb being launched today, impacts on the surface, scientists should see a cloud of dust and mist rise up and will be able to detect the presence of ice in the debris.

For moon colonization and exploration to occur, the presence of ice that could be turned into liquid water would be paramount to success, enabling future space moon settlements. It's the stuff of science fiction and for those of us raised on the excitement of earlier space exploration, it's fun to imagine and follow this story.

Galactic Wafare and Extraterrestrials

However, there are Americans out there today, protesting this mission. The Chicago Surrealist Movement, posted a petition online that claims the US is actually testing space-based weapons. They claim “it also serves as a live-fire test exercise for US war strategists with an interest in the precision of orbiting satellite weapons..in other words, the southern hemisphere of the Moon will be turned into a firing range, making this mission one giant leap for the global reach of space warfare.”

Is this search for water on the moon the real reason for tFriday's bombing of the moon? Or, do the Chicago Surrealist and other protestors have the truth?

You can read about some of the protestors and their reasoning at Counterpunch. In addition to claiming that this is a weapons test, protestors claim that the United States as always launched war on indigenous peoples and that we are doing so with the bombing of the moon today. What indigenous people live on the people is left unclear.

But even more extravagant claims are being made by those who believe we are launching galactic warfare on extra-terrestrials who live on the moon.  Read all about it here and decide if little green men are ducking for cover today on the moon. 

Or read the "true" story at the Spoof. It involves a minivan and a load of desperate housewives?

Facts or Fantasies

If sane explanation and scientific information is more interesting to you than bizarre opinions and fantasies, then check out the facts about the bombing of the Moon at Discover Magazine Online. Huffington Post also has an excellent summary of the mission complete with maps, graphs, charts and lots of other "factual" information.

Resources for the truth!

Discover Magazine: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/14/lcross-impact-site-picked/
Huffington Post:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/06/nasa-lcross-mission-to-bo_n_311038.html