William Atkins
Saturday, 17 October 2009 20:34
Science -
Space
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At first, spectators and NASA scientists were disappointed that a debris plume was not visible as the LCROSS spacecraft imaged its Centaur rocket impacting the Cabeus crater on the Moon. However, now, enhanced crash images show a 1-mile high plume did occur—much shorter than the 12-mile plume predicted.
Maybe you remember getting up early on Friday, October 9, 2009, to see the LCROSS spacecraft and its spent 13-meter (42-foot) long, 2.2-ton Centaur rocket booster wallop the lunar crater Caleus near the southern pole of the Moon.
And, nothing happened! No 20-kilometer (12-mile) high plume of dirt and debris! No visible signs of two impacts four minutes apart! Not even one impact! Nothing as far as we could see!
Excitement had been high that a dramatic scene would unfold on the Moon, which could be witnesses by people on Earth. One such article, publicizing the dramatic event, was Space.com's “
NASA Set to Dive Bomb the Moon.”
So, disappointment was widespread from spectators and NASA scientists alike even though the experiment did seem to be successful; that is, except for any visible signs of the double impacts.
At that time, some NASA scientists contended that Centaur had impacted bedrock (the solid rock underlying the lunar surface) rather than the loose layer of rock particles (called regolith) that covers most of the Moon’s surface.
However, NASA is now reporting that the plume did occur.
According to the October 17, 2009
Los Angeles Times article “
NASA moon crash did kick up debris plume as hoped,” NASA scientists at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, have developed images that show a 1.6-kilometer (one-mile) high plume from the first impact—that of the Centaur rocket.
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