Friday, November 13th, 2009

Lunar Impact Mission Update

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LCROSS Visible Light Camera image of the lunar south pole from an altitude of approximately 770 km. NASA image

Friday, NASA scientists announced that they had found 'a significant amount' of water within the shadowed Cabeus crater through the recent LCROSS lunar impact mission. The scientists described data indicating that perhaps 100 kg of water existed within the field of view of the instruments watching the impact. The water was said to be mixed with 'other interesting things' that will be material for future study by the LCROSS team. We'll get the latest on the findings, and talk about future directions for research on the lunar surface.

Guests

Anthony Colaprete
Project Scientist and Principal Investigator
Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS)
Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, California

Related Links

Segment produced by:Christopher Intagliata

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Image: Three co-added, stretched LCROSS Visible Light Camera images taken shortly after impact (with 15 seconds following impact). The extent of the plume at 15 sec is approximately 6-8 km in diameter.
NASA image

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