LCROSS impact NASA LCROSS mission

LCROSS impact NASA LCROSS mission LCROSS video LCROSS live feed. The Mission Objectives of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) include confirming the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the Moon’s South Pole.
The identification of water is very important to the future of human activities on the Moon. LCROSS will excavate the permanently dark floor of one of the Moon’s polar craters with two heavy impactors to test the theory that ancient ice lies buried there.

The impact will eject material from the crater’s surface to create a plume that specialized instruments will be able to analyze for the presence of water (ice and vapor), hydrocarbons and hydrated materials.

LCROSS will also provide technologies and modular, reconfigurable subsystems that can be used to support future mission architectures.

Ames Research Center (ARC) is managing the mission, conducting mission operations, and has developed the payload instruments, while Northrop Grumman designed and built the spacecraft for this innovative mission. Ames mission scientists will spearhead the data analysis. This is a fast-paced, low-cost, mission that will leverage some existing NASA systems, Northrop-Grumman spacecraft expertise, and Ames’ Lunar Prospector experience.

Why LCROSS?

LCROSS spacecraft above the Moon's surface

Just like on Earth, water is a crucial resource on the Moon. It will not be practical to transport to space the amount of water needed for human and exploration needs. It is critical to find natural resources, such as water, on the Moon. The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission will begin the search for water, leveraging the information we learned from the Clementine and Lunar Prospector missions.
By going to the Moon for extended periods of time before other bodies in our solar system, astronauts will search for resources and learn how to work safely in a harsh environment—stepping stones to future exploration. The Moon also offers many clues about the time when the planets were formed.

“Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, ’Because it was there.’

Well, space is there, and we’re going to climb it, and the Moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there.”

President John F. Kennedy
Address at the Rice University on the Space Effort