October 8, 2009

NASA’s Moon Explosion

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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Red alert: NASA is going to blow up the moon!

A lunar rocket is set to hit the moon’s south pole (no, they’re not blowing up the whole thing)  tomorrow morning, as part of the LCROSS mission to find water in the moon’s craters. According to National Geographic:

If abundant lunar water ice is found, it could someday be used to slake the thirst of moon colonizers and fuel their journeys deeper into space.

Star-gazers can watch at 4:30am Pacific Time with a standard telescope, and glimpse dusty debris or even—better yet—billowing water vapor (late-night nerd party, anyone?) For those on the East Coast, the NASA TV web site will capture the boom.

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