Moon crash splashed up gallons of water

LOS ANGELES — When NASA blasted a hole in the moon last year in search of water, scientists figured there would be a splash. They just didn't know how big.

Now new results from the Hollywoodesque moonshot reveal lots of water in a crater where the sun never shines — 41 gallons of ice and vapor.

That may not sound like much — it's what a typical washing machine uses for a load — but it's almost twice as much as researchers had initially measured and more than they ever expected to find.

The estimate represents only what scientists can see from the debris plume that was kicked up from the high-speed crash near the south pole by a NASA spacecraft on Oct. 9, 2009.

Mission chief scientist Anthony Colaprete of the NASA Ames Research Center calculates there could be 1 billion gallons of water in the crater that was hit — enough to fill 1,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

"Where we impacted was quite wet," Colaprete said, adding there could be more such craters at both the moon's poles.

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This looks promising for Moon colonisation. Combined with Richard Branson’s cheap launches (he has just opened a ‘Space Port’ for the commercial exploitation of space), mining investors and Branson’s go-getting mercantile motives, the dead hand of NASA may finally be removed and progress made.

I've doubts about the feasability of Moon colonisation, but for me the real value would be to find out where the moon came from? ([OT] and its not 6054 yrs old either and was not the product of a cheese factory [/OT]).

Will be great when the world no longer needs NASA. NASA have great intentions with passionate employees, just the USA politics ruin its agenda.

cbrunsdonza said:

I've doubts about the feasability of Moon colonisation, but for me the real value would be to find out where the moon came from? ([OT] and its not 6054 yrs old either and was not the product of a cheese factory [/OT]).

Will be great when the world no longer needs NASA. NASA have great intentions with passionate employees, just the USA politics ruin its agenda.

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From what I've read the theory is that another object crashed into earth a few billion years ago dislodged a large piece into space which is what the moon is today.

Nothxkbi said:

From what I've read the theory is that another object crashed into earth a few billion years ago dislodged a large piece into space which is what the moon is today.

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That was the one theory I learn't about during my AST101 last year. Still we do not know the age or how it formed. Thats why I love these articles as it gives us a better understanding of how our universe was formed.

cbrunsdonza said:

That was the one theory I learn't about during my AST101 last year. Still we do not know the age or how it formed. Thats why I love these articles as it gives us a better understanding of how our universe was formed.

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Yup it's great that our knowledge and understanding is growing each day and one day we'll have a fully complete timeline from big bang until now, perhaps not in our lifetimes but who knows.

I was watching this a few days back, a documentary series on BBC History Channel on how the earth was possibly formed. It's a bit of a hit on cap but well worth the watch.


How The Earth Was Made - Birth Of The Earth Part 1 Of 5

Thanks, I will check it tomorrow. Writing C++ Data Strucutes tomorrow and my break is coming to an end.

Love astronomy and so glad I did AST101 last year - just a pity I cannot take it as a major for my UNISA BSc (IT) anymore.

cbrunsdonza said:

Will be great when the world no longer needs NASA. NASA have great intentions with passionate employees, just the USA politics ruin its agenda.

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You are being too kind. “Great intentions”, “passionate employees”. Pah! There is an expression – a camel is a horse designed by a committee. NASA specialises in designing camels. NASA committee’s are ruled by political expediency, personal enmities, nepotism, etc. They outrank the visionaries (who have their stuff rejected by camel designing committees). NASA risks losing the talent not locked-in with pensions, seniority, etc. A totally new launch system (different from the NASA camel) from Branson may replace the obscenely expensive, polluting and unreliable Saturn V rocket. Although they [NASA] are accountable for mankind’s crappy space progress, they did do some good. Up until the Moon landing, NASA had vision. After that they lost the plot completely. Passionate space travel visionaries did join the 9 to 5 NASA clock-watchers (they had to - it was the only space travel game in town). Now that the dead hand of NASA is removed, space exploration can progress. There is a new game in town (Branson). The only thing of value which NASA possesses, are the archives containing the continuously rejected visionary ideas.

The case for Socialist NASA (and America claims to be ‘free-market’?)

The taxpayer funds NASA. There is no hurry to do anything (it’s not required to be profitable). Time is spent on empire building, recruiting a bloated bureaucracy and politicking. I would say that any actual space work, is 90% ensuring astronaut’s comfort and 10% space. When money runs-out, begging bowls are rattled at the government. In the time since the Moon landing, NASA may have done 5 years of actual space work (probably less).

So critical of NASA. That's rich coming from a technologically backward country

Palimino said:

This looks promising for Moon colonisation. Combined with Richard Branson’s cheap launches (he has just opened a ‘Space Port’ for the commercial exploitation of space), mining investors and Branson’s go-getting mercantile motives, the dead hand of NASA may finally be removed and progress made.

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Will Africa criticize Earth colonization ?

I believe the Moon is humanities first true step outside of Earth, and the beginning of human exploration on a scale never seen before! The Universe better be ready for us