Tomorrow it happens! - Crashlanding on the moon

[CupOfWater]

Hi!

Tomorrow, LCROSS will finish it mission, by sending an 1-ton heavy object hurling towards the moon, and crashing in it. The crash will send 1200 tons of matter out in space, and it will be visible from the earth if you've got an 9-inch telescope. Then, LCROSS will crash in the moon itself, right after it have measured the stuff that was hurled up in the crash.

I AM SO GODDAMN EXCITED

AAAA

I'll be on school when it happens, but I WILL watch it on the net when I get home! ThunderF00t has to record this!

Information:
--Centaur impact time: 11:31:19 UTC, 7:31:19 EDT, 4:31:19 PDT
--Shepherding spacecraft impact time: 11:35:45 UTC, 7:35:45 EDT, 4:35:45.
See the updated countdown clock at: http://www.nasa.gov/lcross
A live NASA TV Broadcast is planned for the LCROSS impacts starting at 6:15 a.m. EDT/3:15 a.m. PDT, Oct. 9, on NASA TV and www.nasa.gov/ntv.

 

[borrofburi]

Thanks for the time, I've been wondering about this but didn't care enough to look it up myself.

 

[nasher168]

The UK will be on the day side when it happens :evil:

 

[stulogic]

Well that's that done and dusted!

Looking forward to see what data and stuff they can get, and what images of the impacts emerge from the telescopes that are/were doubtlessly pointing at the crash site. Wasn't quite what I was hoping to see as it seems to have lost the feed or something, but I'm sure we'll get some good footage and more importantly data from it. A little bit of an anti climax but exciting nonetheless.

 

[Midnightblues]

The science illiterate really get on my nerves. Facebook statuses of "They're going to blow up the moon!? Stupid scientists!" and "Just because they THINK there might be water? WTF?" or "Science sucks". Ugh.

Apart from that : It was still a fascinating experiment, and I can't wait to see what they learn from it.

And : Is there any reason why some people (according to them) cannot see the moon? Would this experiment affect that in any way?

 

[borrofburi]

I heard it didn't have the effect they were hoping. The moon hoaxers are going to jump on this...

 

[scalyblue]

The experiment was successful, the explosion just wasn't as spectacular as could be hoped. ^.^

And I heard somebody compare the impact to an eyelash hitting a 747, as far as relative mass goes.

 

[AndromedasWake]

NASA are partly to blame for over-hyping the visual impact aspect. For example, some NASA press releases stated that the impact might have been visible through a 'scope as small as 10 inches. A few people had asked me about this over the last few weeks, and based on the maximum projected size of the plume, I was extremely sceptical of being able to see it in a scope that size. Of course, it wasn't visible from the UK anyway, but people were definitely over-excited.

The experiment itself was a success, and the data collected will surely be valuable.

 

[Finger]

So, it's official. Water on the fucking moon! Quite a bit of it, actually.

I am displeased at the lack of excitement about this.

 

[xman]

How is that a 'significant amount' of water? Is it enough to sustain a lunar colony? What size and for how long?

 

[Finger]

That's how much was found in 20-30 meters. It's way more than was expected.

I don't think anyone expects a moon base to be 100% self-sufficient. But the more resources the base can get from the lunar soil, the less has to be shipped to it, and the less money the whole thing will cost.

 

[Rivius]

excuse my ignorance but what does this discovery mean?

I'm guessing it strengthens the Giant Impact Hypothesis somewhat? But other than that, the moon is still uninhabitable since it has no atmosphere?

 

[aeroeng314]

excuse my ignorance but what does this discovery mean?

I'm guessing it strengthens the Giant Impact Hypothesis somewhat? But other than that, the moon is still uninhabitable since it has no atmosphere?

Why does its lack of atmosphere have any relevance? A lack of a breathable atmosphere really does very little to stop people from living somewhere. Just look at LA.

 

[jrparri]

excuse my ignorance but what does this discovery mean?

I'm guessing it strengthens the Giant Impact Hypothesis somewhat? But other than that, the moon is still uninhabitable since it has no atmosphere?

The space station also doesn't have an atmosphere, but you can live there. Anyway, we can colonize without terraforming, didn't you play Spore? :lol:

Long-term colonization of the moon presents some problems: like where to get food, water, and air.

1) Food can be brought, and grown on the moon hydroponically (water, air, chems).
2) "Air" can be brought from earth in gaseous and liquid forms, and be built and recycled by technology and plants.
3) Water must be brought from earth, and is very heavy. This makes colonizing the moon a cost-prohibitive impossibility.

Now you can strike off number 3.

 

[Josan]

I can just hear PCS's words echoing in my mind:

"However, the search is futile..."

Suck it, posterboy.