Lunar blast by LCROSS hits a bunch of water

William Atkins
Saturday, 14 November 2009 03:57

Science - Space

NASA has confirmed that the impact of the LCROSS spacecraft and its spent upper stage rocket uncovered about 25 gallons of water from debris uplifted in a lunar crater that is permanently shadowed from sunlight.


The LCROSS (short for Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) spacecraft was sent plunging into a crater on the Moon on October 9, 2009. Four minutes before it impacted the Moon’s surface, its upper stage rocket was also sent for its impact into the crater.

According to the November 13, 2009 NASA media release NASA’s LCROSS Finds Water on the Moon, the inside of the crater, called Cabeus, used for as a target for this NASA mission has not seen sunlight in billions of years.

After the two vehicles hit inside the crater, a plume traveled upward and outward at a high angle. The angle was so great that the plume eventually reached a height that allowed it to “see” the rays of the Sun.

After the time of impacts of LCROSS and its rocket, NASA scientists have analyzed the data received back from LCROSS.

Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS project scientist from the NASA Ames Research Center, stated, "We are ecstatic. Multiple lines of evidence show water was present in both the high angle vapor plume and the ejecta curtain created by the LCROSS Centaur impact. The concentration and distribution of water and other substances requires further analysis, but it is safe to say Cabeus holds water."

The Los Angeles article Significant amounts of water found on moon, NASA says states, “The mission that plunged a rocket into the moon's surface last month detected about 25 gallons of water in the form of vapor and ice. 'The moon is alive,' a mission scientist says."

Lunar researchers have in the past wondered if water, made up of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen, is present on the Moon. [edited 11/15/09]

Since a large amount of hydrogen has been recently found at the lunar poles, they also began to wonder that, if water is present, just how much of it is present on or under the Moon.

The NASA article further states, “The LCROSS findings are shedding new light on the question with the discovery of water, which could be more widespread and in greater quantity than previously suspected."

Colaprete added, "The full understanding of the LCROSS data may take some time. The data is that rich. Along with the water in Cabeus, there are hints of other intriguing substances. The permanently shadowed regions of the moon are truly cold traps, collecting and preserving material over billions of years."

Watch the YouTube video "NASA: Water Found in Moon Crater."