NASA To Bomb The Moon

Active Member
★ Black Lounger ★
✔️ HL Verified
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Jul 14, 2002
Messages
8,229
Best answers
0
Location
December
NASA is launching a dramatic mission to bomb the moon.

The LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observing and Sensing Satellite) mission will send a missile traveling at twice the speed of a bullet to blast a hole in the lunar surface near the moon's South pole.

Scientists expect the impact of the Centaur rocket to be powerful enough to eject a huge plume of debris from the moon. The moon dust should even be large enough to be seen from earth through telescopes 10-to-12 inches and larger, says NASA.

So what's our beef with the moon?

The bombing isn't an act of hostility: it's all part of our search for water in space.

The missile will impact the lunar surface at crater Cabeus A (see photo below). The crater is located on the moon's South pole, an area in which scientists estimate there may be billions of tons of trapped ice.

Scientists intend to examine the debris from the blast for traces of water ice or vapor. Discover Magazine explains how it works:

Detecting that water is tough. Radar results have been inconclusive, with some people saying there's lots of water, and others saying there's none at all. By impacting a probe there, any ice located at the impact site will be shot up above the lunar surface, where sunlight will break it up into O+ and OH- molecules, which can be detected. Thus, LCROSS.

Locating water on the moon would be a big boon for future space missions, NASA notes:

Transporting water and other goods from Earth to the moon's surface is expensive. Finding natural resources, such as water ice, on the moon could help expedite lunar exploration.

Check out an awesome video simulation of the LCROSS mission here.

Watch the LCROSS launch on a Live NASA TV Broadcast that will start at 6:15 a.m. EDT/3:15 a.m. PDT on October 9, 2009.


Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/06/nasa-lcross-mission-to-bo_n_311038.html
Source

I'm slowly starting to lose faith in humanity once again.
 
Last edited:
Misanthropist
🌠 Staff
🌈 Beta Tester
★ Black Lounger ★
✔️ HL Verified
🚂 Steam Linked
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Sep 18, 2003
Messages
1,406
Best answers
1
Location
Perth, Australia
Only slowly?
 
Active Member
★ Black Lounger ★
✔️ HL Verified
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Jul 14, 2002
Messages
8,229
Best answers
0
Location
December
Well, I am quite shocked at how stupid NASA is to blow up bits of the moon. If they're so desperate to find out about the water on the moon, dig harder. :p
 
Misanthropist
🌠 Staff
🌈 Beta Tester
★ Black Lounger ★
✔️ HL Verified
🚂 Steam Linked
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Sep 18, 2003
Messages
1,406
Best answers
1
Location
Perth, Australia
Just because there is water molecules on the moon doesnt mean its sufficient for for sustainability, thats my opinion anyway. Theres got to be another method to measure the mass of water present.
 
ANBU
✔️ HL Verified
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Jan 22, 2006
Messages
3,192
Best answers
0
Location
Bucharest
Bomb the moon just hoping to find water? Sounds kinda stupid indeed but it's not like they're going to destroy it all...
 
New Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
178
Best answers
0
Location
India
Ya, well maybe they'll build a restaurant or sumthin' up there..and that's why they're looking for water.. :p

Well humanity is not even keeping the earth happy, and now they blow a hole onto the moon...woh...sounds cool...like you know...the sci-fi story stuff...

And oh...even if they find oxygen cations and hydroxyl anions...what good will it be just now?? They'll have to find ways to dig a hole that'd keep the ice/water from dissociating and at the same time collect them..seems quite far-fetched, but might work out someday....
 
Last edited:
Active Member
★ Black Lounger ★
✔️ HL Verified
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Jul 14, 2002
Messages
8,229
Best answers
0
Location
December
Just because there is water molecules on the moon doesnt mean its sufficient for for sustainability, thats my opinion anyway. Theres got to be another method to measure the mass of water present.
There's most likely another way to do this, so a bombing mission shouldn't even be considered.

I don't know about anyone else, but if the moon is required to be bombed for this experiment, then I'd rather live without knowing much about water being on the moon.
 
Member
🚂 Steam Linked
Discord Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
496
Best answers
0
Location
United Kingdom
The moon was blasted of thousands of asteroids that destroyed the moons surface much more then any human bomb. But I don't think they are planing to blast the moon just to know more about water. Water is probably on any solid planet since all planets were formed out of ice, rocks and dust. I think it's more of finding what resources the moon has to offer and how to exploit them.
 
New Member
✔️ HL Verified
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Mar 29, 2003
Messages
4,765
Best answers
0
Location
The Netherlands
What's wrong with bombing the moon? The moon is being bombed by thousands of [micro]astroids every day. Using a rocket to dig for water is quite a speedy way to dig. And it is not like they will be blowing up the complete moon, it will probably leave a 'relative' small crater. I personally see nothing wrong with doing this. It's not like we'll harm any moon-based creatures.
 
Active Member
✔️ HL Verified
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Mar 13, 2005
Messages
3,877
Best answers
0
****, just leave the moon alone. This may start a a George Lucas Fan Fiction.
 
Member
🚂 Steam Linked
Discord Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
496
Best answers
0
Location
United Kingdom
Not all Ice is water you know. Its H2O specifically and not other kinds of elements.
I still think there is water on all solid planets. Water ice is believed to even be on Mercury in craters where sunlight never shines. Even the gas giants have liquid and frozen water in their atmosphere.
 
New Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2008
Messages
436
Best answers
0
Location
New England, United States
It sounds like a really bad idea to me. The moon facilitates so much on the Earth, and without it we'd be screwed. If we hit it with a few missiles and start draining the water out of it, not only will we start knocking it off course, but it will have a lesser mass, causing an imbalance in its orbit.

Is it really worth it? HELL no. Leave it and let it do its thing, lest we want to find out 10 years from now that we not only caused Global Warming aka Climate Change, but freakin Lunar Skewing. Whatever the hell they want to cause a serious problem we foolishly caused that's beyond our fixing.

Say NO to Lunar Skew.
 
Active Member
✔️ HL Verified
🚂 Steam Linked
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Sep 23, 2002
Messages
1,876
Best answers
0
Location
Fryslân Boppe! The Netherlands
It sounds like a really bad idea to me. The moon facilitates so much on the Earth, and without it we'd be screwed. If we hit it with a few missiles and start draining the water out of it, not only will we start knocking it off course, but it will have a lesser mass, causing an imbalance in its orbit.

Is it really worth it? HELL no. Leave it and let it do its thing, lest we want to find out 10 years from now that we not only caused Global Warming aka Climate Change, but freakin Lunar Skewing. Whatever the hell they want to cause a serious problem we foolishly caused that's beyond our fixing.

Say NO to Lunar Skew.
You do realize that the moon is actually bigger then it appears to be when you look at it from earth?

a few missiles can NOT change the course in any notable way.
I think the meteors who blasted it for the last few million years proofed that the moon is here to stay.


This has a lot of scientific relevance and I applaud them for doing it.
 
Freelance Mappzor
✔️ HL Verified
🚂 Steam Linked
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Nov 21, 2003
Messages
17,065
Best answers
0
Location
Stairing at the Abyss
I thought the moons orbit is allready swaying or is that info allready outdated ^^

And boogyman the majority of ice in space is not water ice. The problem with that is the lack of Oxygen for the Hydrogen to combine with. There is plenty of other ices though.
 
Member
🚂 Steam Linked
Discord Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
496
Best answers
0
Location
United Kingdom
If they do make a big enough bomb to be able to flinch the moon a little, I hope they will bomb the side opposite to us, thus hopefully slowing down or even stopping the moon form slowly drifting away from it's orbit.
 
Active Member
✔️ HL Verified
🚂 Steam Linked
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Sep 23, 2002
Messages
1,876
Best answers
0
Location
Fryslân Boppe! The Netherlands
I thought the moons orbit is allready swaying or is that info already outdated ^^
it has been moving away from the earth slowly but steadily for some time.
the moon looked way bigger from earth in the time of the dinosaurs.
From what I remember about 3 times bigger then it is now, however it's been a while since I last talked about this, so it might be off.

Still the speed of it moving away is (relatively) so slow that we won't be negatively effected by it for a long long long long time.

If they do make a big enough bomb to be able to flinch the moon a little, I hope they will bomb the side opposite to us, thus hopefully slowing down or even stopping the moon form slowly drifting away from it's orbit.
Highly unlikely, I don't know the math behind it but a blast big enough to move something like the moon. will most likely ruin it at the same time too.
If they ever had to move the moon and had the technology/resources. it will probably be by trusters.

Or actually use a HUGE parachute, which is attached to the moon. and between the moon and the parachute a atomic bomb would explode which would be the wind for the parachute to move the moon towards the direction we want!
sailing with the moon!
 
Last edited:
ANBU
✔️ HL Verified
💻 Oldtimer
Joined
Jan 22, 2006
Messages
3,192
Best answers
0
Location
Bucharest
You do realize that the moon is actually bigger then it appears to be when you look at it from earth?

a few missiles can NOT change the course in any notable way.
I think the meteors who blasted it for the last few million years proofed that the moon is here to stay.


This has a lot of scientific relevance and I applaud them for doing it.
Exactly. It's not like they want to blow up the whole moon.
 
New Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
178
Best answers
0
Location
India
I thought the moons orbit is allready swaying or is that info allready outdated ^^

And boogyman the majority of ice in space is not water ice. The problem with that is the lack of Oxygen for the Hydrogen to combine with. There is plenty of other ices though.
Not exactly "lack of oxygen" but lack of proper ratio...

---------- Double Post below was added at 10:44 PM has been merged with this post created at 10:41 PM ----------

it has been moving away from the earth slowly but steadily for some time.
the moon looked way bigger from earth in the time of the dinosaurs.
From what I remember about 3 times bigger then it is now, however it's been a while since I last talked about this, so it might be off.

Still the speed of it moving away is (relatively) so slow that we won't be negatively effected by it for a long long long long time.



Highly unlikely, I don't know the math behind it but a blast big enough to move something like the moon. will most likely ruin it at the same time too.
If they ever had to move the moon and had the technology/resources. it will probably be by trusters.

Or actually use a HUGE parachute, which is attached to the moon. and between the moon and the parachute a atomic bomb would explode which would be the wind for the parachute to move the moon towards the direction we want!
sailing with the moon!
LOL>...wind in vacuum?? And about knocking the moon outta orbit...technically we gotta produce enough force that'd be greater than the force created when the moon hits the earth..
 
Last edited:

Users who are viewing this thread

Top Bottom