Ned Potter is the science correspondent for ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson." He has reported on such topics as space exploration, the human genome and climate change.
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Moon Crash: Where's the Water?
October 13, 2009 12:27 PM
For the scientists hoping to see evidence of lunar ice, it was another story. They had counted on -- and talked about -- the giant plume of debris they had hoped to see. They were publicly cautious in advance of impact, but also said that if there large amounts of ice in the shadowed floor of Cabeus crater, they might know within hours.
In the end, no joy. If there was a debris plume it wasn't visible, and there was no immediate evidence of ice. Not the best result if you were counting on it for a future moon base (of which there's a cool graphic HERE).
The LCROSS satellite, which trailed the crashing Centaur booster by 400 miles, recorded a small flash of heat (see picture above), and hints of sodium in the soil, but no water so far. The operators of the Hubble telescope, which watched from earth orbit (correcting typo spotted by a commenter--thank you), reported late Friday that they did not see either H2O or hydroxyls -- HO, the ionized form of water that shows up when molecules have been broken up by solar radiation or the energy of impact.
"A preliminary analysis of the STIS spectra do not show any clear evidence for hydroxyl, but further analysis is needed," said Hubble co-investigator Alex Storrs in an online statement.
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, circling the moon, passed over Cabeus crater just 90 seconds after impact, and spotted warming, but that's food for analysis, not proof of water.
None of this means back-to-the-drawing-board yet. There may be plenty of ice hidden in the lunar soil, and LCROSS may have just missed it, or it's hidden in the spectrometer readings it took. So there's some work to be done. Paul Spudis of the Lunar and Planetary Institute has an informed take on the mission's origins and shortcomings; take a look HERE.
In the meantime, with apologies to Rodgers and Hart, many thanks to a commenter named rufadoop for providing this little gem last week:
"Blue moon/You saw me standing alone/Without a dream in my heart/Without a love of my...KABOOM!"
October 13, 2009 in Science, Space | Permalink | Share | User Comments (74)
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How many impoverished people would benefit with $79 million dollars especially in this recession? God did not create the moon to be bombed. What a waste of money.
Posted by: Jim | Oct 13, 2009 1:39:56 PM
Why do we need to verify theres ice on the moon? Can't we just open the freezer door or go to the Seven Eleven??
Posted by: chaddy cakes | Oct 13, 2009 1:41:36 PM
Ned,
All things being equal, I'm betting that Heinlein "guessed" right once again: ice under the lunar surface that can be used for colonization (ie, "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress").
Of course, that would mean we have to worry about the colonists throwing rocks!
Posted by: Walker Evans | Oct 13, 2009 1:45:02 PM
Truly a huge waste of money! I bet those in the unemployment lines would be impressed with NASA...
Posted by: Magda | Oct 13, 2009 1:52:26 PM
In my view, this mission was a success. Negative information (e.g., that there does not appear to be water in the shadow of this crater) may be just as important as positive information (e.g., that there is evidence for the presence of water elsewhere). Now we know where not to look and can move on to other areas.
I went to NASA Ames with two young children to watch the impact. There were hundreds of people out there at 4:00am PST.
Well done NASA and great public outreach!
Posted by: James | Oct 13, 2009 1:57:39 PM
We're looking for water on the moon?
Well, then, I think "Moon River" is considerably more apropos than "Blue Moon."
Posted by: Eleonora27 | Oct 13, 2009 1:59:31 PM
We're 12 trillion in debt people. Just say NO to more moon bombings.
Posted by: Jim Bob | Oct 13, 2009 1:59:36 PM
Although it is quite a grand bill this would really help us learn alot about our own planet not to mention our solar system. Finding traces of water on the moon is a HUGE finding and will help us in future exploration. The moon is the key clue to our own planets history.
Posted by: Shea | Oct 13, 2009 1:59:52 PM
in response to......Why do we need to verify theres ice on the moon? Can't we just open the freezer door or go to the Seven Eleven??
Posted by: chaddy cakes | Oct 13, 2009 1:41:36 PM
Dude....to see if the astronauts need to take a cooler when they colonize the moon. Better yet, they should take the new grooler.....it is a cooler and a grill all in one!!!! Whooohoooooo!!!!
Posted by: stevey pie | Oct 13, 2009 2:17:30 PM
Even if they do find a few drops of water for $79M, it would still be much cheaper to bring bottles of Poland Spring in the future spacecrafts.
Posted by: Bob | Oct 13, 2009 2:17:53 PM
Haha..ok. And another reason is because water is so much to transport and if and when we set up the moon station then we need to see if they can use the moons water to keep it sustained. Duh. You can really learn alot at nasa about this. Its a plan that has been in the works for years.
Posted by: Shea | Oct 13, 2009 2:20:34 PM
Why is that scientist research stuff, blows things up and create collisions just to see the results, when there is no need.
I guess they do it just to prove they can without there being any real need other than prove a theory.
The purpose is to find water, I think not. The real purpose is other than that.
Posted by: Pete | Oct 13, 2009 2:25:52 PM
Where do you idiots think the money for this went.
They did not haul it to the moon and dump it there.
This is the kind of stimulus we should be spending money on and creating real jobs with.
Posted by: mountianswin | Oct 13, 2009 2:31:54 PM
Oh quit whining. The government funded NASA approx. $25.4 billion in 1969 (or approximately $136 billion in 2007 Dollars) to put men on the moon for the Apollo missions and you don't see anybody complaining today do you? It's all to further our space exploration and we need it. Anyone who does not care to learn about our existence is an idiot. NASA will continue to explore and continue to use your money as many other government funded programs do so get over it.
Posted by: Shea | Oct 13, 2009 2:39:07 PM
what a waste of $. Who cares if there's water on the moon. It'll just turn into another piece of land to have a war over. Let's fix what's going on on Earth first and worry about the moon later.....I could use $190K of that $ to get rid of my mortgage and then I'd have more time and $ to put good use like helping kids with disabilities or something. NASA is a waste....
Posted by: Corinne | Oct 13, 2009 2:43:18 PM
Shea,
THANK YOU!!!!!
Posted by: freedomsky3 | Oct 13, 2009 2:50:17 PM
When water gets up to $4 a gallon, well then NASA is on to something.
Posted by: mnns | Oct 13, 2009 2:55:51 PM
Why do we need to populate the Moon - or any other planet for that matter? NASA has robbed us blind for years with their whining for funds -- for a space station that is fast turning into space waste -- to send "heroes" to the moon (sure they did...). I'm grateful for satellites cuz I dig my cable TV, but really, must we bomb our Moon? This is a sacred thing -- it controls our TIDES people. You'd think that would be something they would want to leave intact. God bless our grandchildren...
Posted by: jjcoers | Oct 13, 2009 2:56:26 PM
yea right! nothing was ever sent up and nothing was ever seen on film. looks like a creative way to trick us out of more stimulas. 700,000,000
Posted by: greazemonkey | Oct 13, 2009 3:06:59 PM
I always get a good laugh over people who complain about spending money on science, exploration & research. Junk food brains are obese with ignorance. Science is our only true hope for survival. If knowledge is power, it appears that some of the posters on this website are intellectually anemic. Pump up those neurons by reading a book or going to the NASA website.
Posted by: Mary Saint | Oct 13, 2009 3:08:46 PM
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