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As reported by Andrea Thompson in a "Space.com" report, "The LCROSS probe
impacted the lunar south pole at a crater called Cabeus on Oct. 9, 2009. The $79 million spacecraft, preceded by its
Centaur rocket stage, hit the lunar surface in an effort to create a debris plume that could be analyzed by scientists for
signs of water ice."
A considerable amount seems to have been detected, as mission scientists
revealed on Nov. 13, 2009, after a thorough analysis of the debris plume.
And, what does this mean? It means that there will be water to drink
and hydrogen to extract for fuel and oxygen to extract for breathing.
The way is now clear to begin serious planning for manned exploration ---
that is, provided that, after the orgy of massive spending, there is anything much left for space exploration.
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| What the images reveal. (NASA) |
More Water Found On The Moon!
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| Radar image composite of moon N. Pole ice areas. (NASA) |
NASA announced, on March 1, 2009, that vast pockets of what is described as "water
ice" have been found at our moon's north polar region. The find was made using data from a NASA radar instrument that
flew aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft.
More than 40 craters, as wide as a mile and larger, have been discovered to contain
ice in permantly shadowed areas near the rims.
It comes as a bitter-sweet discovery on the heals of President Obama's decision to
cancel the Constellation program that would have taken us back to the moon. The ice found (now at both poles) would
have been an extremely valuable resource, as water and for its extracted oxygen and hydrogen.
Other nations are planning for the serious possibility of moon trips, exploration and
the establishment of bases as an understandable result of the American retreat.
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