NASA Bombed Moon By A 2 Tonne Centaur Rocket- A $79 Million Science Experiment To Discover Water On Moon.
In its quest to discover water on the moon, on 9th October 2009, at
7:31 a.m. ET, NASA bombed the moon by a 2.2 tonne empty rocket using LCROSS
(Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite).
The rocket crashed in the moon's surface at a speed of 5600 miles per
hour. The target was a 60-mile-wide crater called Cabeus. The LCROSS crashed on
the surface four minutes later.
It was hyped that the blast would create a large cloud of gas, dust
and vaporized water ice going up to 6 miles high and which will be visible from
the Earth. Although, millions who were watching the event live on the internet
were left disappointed. There was barely a change observed in the crater where
the missile hit. NASA claim to have gained a lot of new knowledge through the
$79 million experiment.
The principal investigator, Anthony Colaprete quoted- "I'm not
going to say anything about water or no water, but we got the data that we
need" to answer the questions raised by many as to what have we gained
from this experiment
The LCROSS carried a visible camera, near-infrared cameras,
spectrometers and a visible radiometer to guide scientists from NASA to examine
the resultant dust plume. Moon's surface is like a dry desert but scientists
believe that some ice is trapped deep in the craters where the sunlight cannot
penetrate.
Two American spacecrafts had earlier reported the presence of water on
Moon by tracing the hints of Hydrogen and Oxygen- the two elements that make up
the water. These constituents were found in frozen state in deep craters of the
North and South poles.
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