Moon crash, splash

Sophie Moynihan

7b

Current events

http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/2009/12/moon-crash-splash-2/

For many years now, NASA has been trying to look for a planet stable enough to support human activity if it comes time that we have to evacuate the earth. The studied mars, several satellites, and also our moon. In October 2010, our space program launched a rocket called the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) into space to crash into a crater on the moon. LCROSS was carried up into space attached to back back of a rocket, and then was reliesed in order to crash land into our moon. The crash caused a plume of dust and debris, of which scientists could then study and search for a water source. It used a plethora of nine devices, including one called a spectrometer, to look and take pictures of the moon. The spectrometer is what was used to record if there was any water on the moon or not. It is designed to observe the chemical makeup of a substance, and uses infrared lights. It was determined by Mr.Anthony Colaprete, a corporate worker at NASA, that the plume created by the rocket released at least 25 gallons of vaporized water and ice.

I thought this was a really cool article for several reasons. One, because now we might have a place to go if we have to evacuate earth (fingers crossed) and 2, I have heard a lot about this incident, but I never knew the entire story. It was a really cool article, but also a really cool and creative way to test and see if there was any water on the moon. Although I hope that in the years to come we will be able to become more sustainable, and the earth will be able to support us, I feel safer knowing that in the event that we have to flee our home planet, we might have a place to go.