By ALICIA CHANG, AP Science Writer Alicia Chang, Ap Science Writer – Thu Oct 21, 9:22 pm ET
LOS ANGELES – When NASA blasted a hole in the moon last ano in procurar of water, scientists figured there would be a splash. They just didn't know how big. Now new results from the Hollywood-esque 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 mais 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 por 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 mais such craters at both the moon's poles.
Proof that the moon is dynamic and not a dry, desolate world offers hope for a possible future astronaut outpost where water on site could be used for drinking or making rocket fuel.
But the scientists' excitement is tempered por the political reality that there's no plan to land on the moon anytime soon.
The $79 million moon mission known as the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, was launched to determine whether water exists at the moon's poles. anterior spacecraft spied hints of possible ice in polar craters.
The mission involved slamming a spent rocket into Cabeus crater. The crash carved a hole about one quarter the size of a football field.
A trailing spacecraft then flew through the nuvem of debris and dust thrown up por the impact and used its instruments to analyze what was inside before it also struck the moon.
Besides water, the plume also contained carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, ammonia, sodium, mercury and silver. The findings were published in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
How the sopa of compounds became trapped in Cabeus crater, among the coldest places in the solar system, is unclear. One theory is that they came from comets and asteroids, which pounded the lunar surface billions of years ago, and later drifted to the poles.
Mission scientist Kurt Retherford of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, thinks the discovery of mercury could pose a challenge for any human settlers because of its toxicity.
But Colaprete, the mission chief scientist, said there are ways around the mercury dilemma.
"Just like we use filters on Earth to make sure our drinking water is clean, we will do the same on the moon. We can distill or purify it," he said.
Apollo astronauts previously found traces of silver and gold in lunar samples facing the Earth. Specks of silver in the frigid polar crater are "not going to start the seguinte `silver rush' to the moon," said planetary geologist Peter Schultz of Brown University, who analyzed the plume.
While scientists celebrated the copious data returned to Earth, the highly hyped mission last ano was a public relations bomb. Scores of o espaço fãs who stayed up all night to glimpse NASA's promised debris plume through webcast or telescopes saw little mais than a fuzzy white flash.
LCROSS was originally hatched as a robotic mission before a future human trip. That was before Congress approved a blueprint last mês for NASA that shifts the focus from a manned moon landing — as outlined under President George W. arbusto, bush — in favor of sending astronauts to near-Earth asteroids and eventually Mars. A return to the moon could potentially be a way station — something still to be decided — but the moon won't be an no geral, global goal.
Given the recent water find, "it's disappointing that we're not going to forge ahead" with a moon return seguinte decade, said o espaço scientist Greg Delory of the universidade of California, Berkeley, who was not involved in the project.
But he believes that "when the time is right, we're going to send people there again."
LOS ANGELES – When NASA blasted a hole in the moon last ano in procurar of water, scientists figured there would be a splash. They just didn't know how big. Now new results from the Hollywood-esque 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 mais 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 por 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 mais such craters at both the moon's poles.
Proof that the moon is dynamic and not a dry, desolate world offers hope for a possible future astronaut outpost where water on site could be used for drinking or making rocket fuel.
But the scientists' excitement is tempered por the political reality that there's no plan to land on the moon anytime soon.
The $79 million moon mission known as the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, was launched to determine whether water exists at the moon's poles. anterior spacecraft spied hints of possible ice in polar craters.
The mission involved slamming a spent rocket into Cabeus crater. The crash carved a hole about one quarter the size of a football field.
A trailing spacecraft then flew through the nuvem of debris and dust thrown up por the impact and used its instruments to analyze what was inside before it also struck the moon.
Besides water, the plume also contained carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, ammonia, sodium, mercury and silver. The findings were published in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
How the sopa of compounds became trapped in Cabeus crater, among the coldest places in the solar system, is unclear. One theory is that they came from comets and asteroids, which pounded the lunar surface billions of years ago, and later drifted to the poles.
Mission scientist Kurt Retherford of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, thinks the discovery of mercury could pose a challenge for any human settlers because of its toxicity.
But Colaprete, the mission chief scientist, said there are ways around the mercury dilemma.
"Just like we use filters on Earth to make sure our drinking water is clean, we will do the same on the moon. We can distill or purify it," he said.
Apollo astronauts previously found traces of silver and gold in lunar samples facing the Earth. Specks of silver in the frigid polar crater are "not going to start the seguinte `silver rush' to the moon," said planetary geologist Peter Schultz of Brown University, who analyzed the plume.
While scientists celebrated the copious data returned to Earth, the highly hyped mission last ano was a public relations bomb. Scores of o espaço fãs who stayed up all night to glimpse NASA's promised debris plume through webcast or telescopes saw little mais than a fuzzy white flash.
LCROSS was originally hatched as a robotic mission before a future human trip. That was before Congress approved a blueprint last mês for NASA that shifts the focus from a manned moon landing — as outlined under President George W. arbusto, bush — in favor of sending astronauts to near-Earth asteroids and eventually Mars. A return to the moon could potentially be a way station — something still to be decided — but the moon won't be an no geral, global goal.
Given the recent water find, "it's disappointing that we're not going to forge ahead" with a moon return seguinte decade, said o espaço scientist Greg Delory of the universidade of California, Berkeley, who was not involved in the project.
But he believes that "when the time is right, we're going to send people there again."
Tyler followed Matt into the men’s restroom. He first checked if no one else was there and then grabbed Matt’s arm.
“What the hell is your problem?” Matt asked surprised.
“I can ask you the same question” Tyler hissed.
“I don’t get it” Matt said confused.
“You need to knock it off” Tyler said. “Caroline doesn’t want you anymore, so you can stop with the annoying taxes”
“What taxes? Tyler, I have no idea what you’re talking about” Matt said.
Tyler pulled out his phone and showed Matt the tax he just got.
“Dude, that’s not even my number” Matt said.
“I know it’s hard to see me and Caroline together, but atuação like a jealous ex-boyfriend isn’t going to put you back in her good books. So I think it’s best for both of us if you would just knock it off” Tyler threatened. He let go of Matt and left the restroom, leaving Matt dumbfounded.
“What the hell is your problem?” Matt asked surprised.
“I can ask you the same question” Tyler hissed.
“I don’t get it” Matt said confused.
“You need to knock it off” Tyler said. “Caroline doesn’t want you anymore, so you can stop with the annoying taxes”
“What taxes? Tyler, I have no idea what you’re talking about” Matt said.
Tyler pulled out his phone and showed Matt the tax he just got.
“Dude, that’s not even my number” Matt said.
“I know it’s hard to see me and Caroline together, but atuação like a jealous ex-boyfriend isn’t going to put you back in her good books. So I think it’s best for both of us if you would just knock it off” Tyler threatened. He let go of Matt and left the restroom, leaving Matt dumbfounded.
Dean stared at his car, his mouth wide open, unable to speak.
“What?” he said shocked. “Baby, what have they done to you?”
“Dean” Sam said, elbowing him and pointing at the entrance of the hospital. Meg came outside and walked towards.
“I saw you two from the window” she explained.
“Why are you wearing Cas’ clothes?” Sam asked.
“Long story” Meg replied.
“And what the hell did you and Cas do with my car?” Dean demanded to know, though part of him wished she wouldn’t answer. Unfortunately she did.
“We fucked” Meg said smug. The look on Dean’s face was priceless. “And Cas bled on the front seat. Speaking of Cas, he’s fine. Thanks for asking”
Dean had the courtesy to look ashamed.
“Eh, yeah, I just wanted to ask” he mumbled.
“Follow me” Meg said. “I’ll explain everything inside”
“What?” he said shocked. “Baby, what have they done to you?”
“Dean” Sam said, elbowing him and pointing at the entrance of the hospital. Meg came outside and walked towards.
“I saw you two from the window” she explained.
“Why are you wearing Cas’ clothes?” Sam asked.
“Long story” Meg replied.
“And what the hell did you and Cas do with my car?” Dean demanded to know, though part of him wished she wouldn’t answer. Unfortunately she did.
“We fucked” Meg said smug. The look on Dean’s face was priceless. “And Cas bled on the front seat. Speaking of Cas, he’s fine. Thanks for asking”
Dean had the courtesy to look ashamed.
“Eh, yeah, I just wanted to ask” he mumbled.
“Follow me” Meg said. “I’ll explain everything inside”