LCROSS: A First Step in the Return to the Moon
Posted on 04. Sep, 2009 by flyingeraser in Lunar
The mission objectives for the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) include confirming the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the Moons South Pole.
The identification of water is very important to the future of human activities on the Moon. LCROSS will excavate the permanently dark floor of one of the Moons polar craters with two heavy impactors in 2009 to test the theory that ancient ice lies buried there.
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., is managing the mission, conducting mission operations, and has developed the payload instruments, while Northrop Grumman designed and built the spacecraft for this innovative mission.
For more information, please visit: www.nasa.gov/lcross