NASA to Bomb the Moon to Search for Water
October 6, 2009
(ChattahBox)—NASA plans to launch a powerful missile aimed directly at the South pole of the moon with the goal of blasting a hole in the lunar surface. Space scientists believe the blast would break up any lunar ice trapped underneath, propelling it above the moon’s surface, allowing NASA to detect the water molecules.
The search for water and other natural resources in space has long been a goal of space exploration. And finding sources of water on the moon would make future lunar missions easier and less costly, if there is no need to transport water from Earth.
The Lunar Crater Observing and Sensing Satellite or LCROSS mission will send a missile traveling at twice the speed of a bullet to blast a hole in the lunar surface of the moon on Friday.
The missile will impact the lunar surface at the crater Cabeus A, located on the moon’s South pole, where scientists believe there may be billions of tons of trapped ice.
Scientists expect the impact of the powerful Centaur rocket would release a huge plume of moon dust and debris. The moon dust blast should be large enough for amateur scientists to view from Earth through telescopes 10-to-12 inches and larger, says NASA.
The dramatic LCROSS mission to bomb the moon will be broadcast on a Live NASA TV Broadcast, which will start at 6:15 a.m. EDT/3:15 a.m. PDT on October 9, 2009.
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83 Responses to “NASA to Bomb the Moon to Search for Water”
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[...] Watches Armageddon …and thinks "Hey, what a great idea!" NASA to Bomb the Moon to Search for Water | ChattahBox News Blog __________________ I did it, do you think I’ve gone too [...]
Don’t do it.
Are you out of your f’ing mind! what about the people on earth? have you thought about the danger it could inflict on earth and its people?
I think sending a rocket into the moon is a ridiculous thing to do. I’m all about exploring space (in time), but not so much about blowing stuff up there. I suppose that its probably no worse than some other random rock debris hitting it in the past an making a crater, but it sure seems like a mistake.
We are not alone on this planet and it wouldn’t surprise me if our extraterrestrials friends put the kibosh on this mission. It also wouldn’t surprise me if the “search” for water isn’t just a big cover up for something else that we are doing. As long as we have an economy as we do, a poor distribution of wealth and resources in the world (as we do) and the need to fight an endless war on “terror”, we have no business shooting bombs at the moon. For Gods sake, what are we doing?
Wow, we can actually bomb the moon there no place we cant go F.uck up.
Okay so is this gonna throw off the orbit, gravitational pull, or inertia of the moon? Because that would not be a very good move for the US to make right now with all the hatred in the world pointed at us…….. The moon could get off orbit and throw the earth off of it’s orbit in the process. I think that this is a bad idea and hope that it doesn’t end well. I would hate to end up floating around in space or worse the sun. We have plenty of water here on earth.
I’m just wondering who was sitting around one day and decided ” hey I have an idea! Let’s send a missile into the side of the moon and see what happens! ” This is totally messing with mother nature and ya’ll are really going to piss her off! I pity the human race already for being so oblivious. Instead of focusing on space exploration maybe, just maybe we should be using the money spent on this mission to help dig the american economy out of its own crater. Although I don’t think that just handing the bulk of the U.S. a sum of money teaches us anything about wise spending. I never thought that I would say this in my life, if always been proud to be born in the USA but I’m a little embarrassed to be one at this point!
Okay, I know it probably would not be as cost effective to send an lunar drilling expedition to the moon, but come on people. Are we seriously going to do this? If we are, what’s going to stop other nations with inferior space programs from doing the same to the moon? I hope NASA did their math and double checked it, because this can have adverse effects on Earth’s tides and orbit. I believe its about time that we begin building a lunar colony to handle the further exploration of our moon, instead of sending satelites with bombs. Yes, we would need water but for now we have plenty of water on earth that can be transported to the moon until we can find alternatives. And further more what’s to stop another nation to send a satelite with a bomb and say that its going to be used on the moon and not as a bomb meant for another nation like the US.
Bombing the Moon! I think that’s a curve ball that is going to miss and hit Iran or Afghanistan! Ups!!! Sorry we missed!
This is the most poorly worded article I have ever read. THERE IS NO BOMB. They’re crashing the spend rocket stage into the surface to kick up loose debris and see if there’s water. No warhead. No bomb.
NASA has done this several times in the past. None of which have ever had a bomb aboard. Stop trying to make a story something it’s not.
Oh we are completely f***** now.
[...] the spacemen at NASA are bombing the moon on Friday, allegedly to search for water. That would make a lunar military base cost just [...]
This is by far the biggest boondoggle to come out of “mission control”.
It costs more than 1 billion $$$ every time a shuttle launches, now they wish to bomb the freaking moon in search of what we already have here on earth?
Guess who pays the price tag?
Whatever their intent, bomb or not, it’s a complete waste of OUR tax $$$ and time.
is there nothing the US government won’t try to ruin?
Here’s an idea: reset NASA’s budget to $0, allowing some very bright people to do something useful, and get rid of most of the rest of Washington while you’re at it. Maybe we can use the moon missile on the Capitol?
I think you people are missing the point. Moon Water! Yes, M-O-O-N W-A-T-E-R!!!! Do you know how delicious that might be?!
It’s official: NASA must be disbanded altogether. They employ only idiots.
They’re going to blow it up, then little tiny pieces of moon are going to fall down and kill us all…
Oh joy.
oh no, the moon might get craters!
[...] first annual “Let a Group of 12-Year-Old Boys Design A Mission Day,” NASA will shoot the moon with a missile to look for water. The Lunar Crater Observing and Sensing Satellite or LCROSS mission will send a [...]
Seriously….start a moon colony…a drilling operation…..what the hell are we going to do even if we do blow up half the moon and find water? “Oh okai there is water lul you owe me 5 bucks d00d”
[...] first annual “Let a Group of 12-Year-Old Boys Design A Mission Day,” NASA will shoot the moon with a missile on Friday to look for water. The Lunar Crater Observing and Sensing Satellite or LCROSS mission will send a [...]
[...] NASA to bomb the Moon to search for water? I mean, WTF! NASA to Bomb the Moon to Search for Water | ChattahBox News Blog [...]
What if other countries follow NASA in this attempt for finding water, we will have no moon left and we rely on the moon for a gravitational pull…. Is Nasa that bored?
Enough is enough- Let’s take care of the problems on our planet before we try and change the universe. I am no scientist, but, it doesn’t make sense to destroy something, even a tiny piece, just to find out something that will absolutely have no benefit to us on earth. Somebody should tell these great minds at NASA we should look for water here. My theory is NASA is to blame for all the holes in the Ozone layer by piercing through it with rockets and causing the global warming. Just a theory.
I read a few of these comments and am really hoping that people are kidding. Bombing the moon might throw it off of its orbit? Look at the craters on the moon – impacts that would make the Tsar Bomba (largest thermonuclear explosion ever recorded) look like a firecracker. This bomb will be incredibly small and there is no feasible way it would alter any type of gravitational relevance with Earth.
I’m surprised that some people may think that they’ve brought up theories and/or ideas about this test that NASA hasn’t already brainstormed? These are the top 1% of the collective knowledge-base in the US.
I also like the fact that someone can infer a test like this will not help with solutions on Earth. “WE SHOULD LOOK FOR WATER HERE” – Wow, maybe you should look at a map because I’m pretty sure I can find out where most of the water is on Earth and under the surface (agriculture uses aquifers all of the time). Finding water on a foreign body means it has the potential to support life in the future. Believe it or not, global warming is inevitable. The sun will eventually grow and Earth will become unable to support life. Tests like this lead the way to discovering worlds that have effective means to provide the essentials. Water is the foundation for cells and atmospheres, this is a test that is most certainly worthwhile.
I will close my comment by adding that the earth was once thought to be flat. To sail long enough would mean that you’d eventually fall off of it. We need to think outside the box – that’s the only way new discoveries can happen. Anyone that can draw some kind of twisted political line to this test just watches too much TV or has been brainwashed by the current administrations smoke and mirrors.
I honestly can’t fathom someone who is dumb enough to write some of these comments saying we’re blowing up half the moon or this mission has no meaning behind it.
Obama flying to Montana and then spending thousands of taxpayer dollars to fly in live lobster for a banquet dinner when there is a bounty of good beef in Montana is something that should be scrutinized; not a scientific endeavor that not only thinks outside the box, but is also considering our future of colonization. We will need to colonize in order to prolong our species.
That’s crazy .finish looking on mars first. that’s too close to home. what will happen if any moon debri has some long awaited virus or unknown space chemical that travels to our planet. Or God forbid you actually create a nice size meteor hurling to our planet. Why a bomd ? Why not drill. Sheesh. So the end of the world is 2012 seems more true.
[...] to bomb the moon! NASA to Bomb the Moon to Search for Water | ChattahBox News Blog NASA – LCROSS __________________ Gaming Gears | Yilduz Network | Affpros.com | CodeBoards | I [...]
HEY IS THIS GOING TO MESS UP OUR SOLAR SYSTEM OR OUR EARTH
If you think for 1 second that NASA is going to f### up the moon then YOU are out of your mind. Try studying physics or astronomy. We don’t have anything powerful enough to destroy the moon. There is no debris coming to Earth. You’re all, unfortunately, very ignorant of what they’re doing. lol
what would margaret wise brown say to this? goodnight rocket?
Really, really, wow some of you people are just plain dumb! Do us all a favor and go hug a tree, and let the rest of us plan for the future to save us all. Grow a brain and look at the facts, the sun will cease to exist. NASA is trying learn about space and how we can survive when Earth can not sustian life.
Its not a missle, there are no explosives, no a- bomb on the moon.
A missle implies explosives, there are none.
Letter I received from Nasa in response to inquiry on matter-
NASA is categorically NOT sending a bomb of any type to the moon. Our Centaur upper stage impactor is completely inert. No explosives of any kind. We’re simply using its mass and velocity to raise material from the moon’s surface to look for water ice.
I’m sorry if recent news reports made you think otherwise. We at NASA are working towards peaceful exploration of the Solar System, and recent media reports used very poorly-selected language to misrepresent our mission.
what if the moon isnt as strong as we think and we split it or send it off course etc etc
We really need a moon
Sounds like something Beavis and Butthead would do.
Butthead: “Let’s send a bomb to the moon.” Huh huh huh huh huh huh
Beavis: “Yeah yeah yeah. Let’s send it up there and and and…”
Butthead: “Shut up Beavis! Before NASA hears us and steals our idea!”
Beavis: “Oh yeah. Hmmm hmm hmm Yeah. NASA SUCKS”
is this a good idea what about medeors why do we need ice this seems horrible yet terrifying
is this a good idea what about medeors why do we need ice this seems horrible yet terrifying
We have lost our mind.This is a huge mistake!The majority of the US hates this idea and they are just going to do it anyway.These”smart” people at NASA think there God.Its ridiculous!!!Dont mess up the system or we are done.
The hunt for water is only a part of the reason for this mission. Another purpose is to clearly demonstrate our ability to destroy the lunar base that China is planning to build. Both the US and China want to build a lunar base, but the US is way behind China, and we don’t have the money to catch up. However, we do have the money to destroy any base the Chinese build, and we want to clearly demonstrate that.
i cant wait to see the outcome of this to prove to all you stupid people that nasa knows what there doig!!
WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE BCUZ OF IDIOTS!!!!! **tear**
I work at nasa… this is a huge joke on you guys. It’s not even a real missile — they cut our budget so we can’t afford it anymore. This is going to happen on a soundstage in hollywood. It’ll look great, but not actually accomplish anything.
I find the idea about this amusing, in and of itself. I cannot wait for the headlines ‘United States Bombs The Moon’ to hit newsstands. I will be purchasing a dozen to keep and show my grandchildren one day. LOL
Obama hates moon people.
Leave OUR moon alone. No one took a vote to do this. I know there is another reason NASA isn’t telling us. Shame on you people. The will be a lot of fallout NASA won’t be telling us about.. WHY>>>WHY>>>>>WHY>>>>>
[...] TV Broadcast, which will start at 6:15 a.m. EDT/3:15 a.m. PDT on October 9, 2009. HTML Code: NASA to Bomb the Moon to Search for Water | ChattahBox News Blog [...]
Science is almost scary sometimes.
usa in dome they got to ask all the people of us first and i dont agree with that they are f’ing dome
I saw the headline and said whhhattt?? then I saw the story and said oh….more money waisted…damn
It’s Not Nice To Fool With Mother Nature!!!!
You guys are all idiots and I will see you next year…and again in 2013. This much like 12-12-12 will mean nothing. Don’t get me wrong its fucking NASA; but on the other hand its blowing shit up. So NASA sucks…but we do have a lot of experience blowing shit up so I think we will be fine. If not oh well it was a good run and there is nothing we can do to stop it. One last not to the person that said something to the effect of “we could be sent out to wonder space or even worse the sun” I’ll take the sun at least we would burn up quickly rather than freezing potentially slower. Earth is perfect for life because we are perfect for earth. Change the temperature as little as 50 degrees up or down we all die. Good luck hording bottled water and building a fall out shelter. I will be watching it from my tail gate.
GOD IS WHO SUPPOSED TO DESTROY THIS WORLD…………..NOT THE HUMAN, AND THATS WHAT THERE GONNA DO WITH THERE IDEA OF BOMBING THE MOON, ARE THEY CRAZY……OH MAN I WISH THIS WAS A JOKE, CANT OBAMA STOP THIS ??
We, mankind, have already proven that we are good at this: destruction. Pride will accelerate this process. As always, when we learn when to stop, it is going to be too late.
Since any outcome will affect the whole world, it should be part of their protocol to get our opinion before they make these daft plans.
NASA PEOPLE, READ ALL THESE COMMENTS!!!!
Why don’t they use all the money wasted in it to feed starving people or to provide for the needed, or to stop damages here, in our “home” Earth? Right here in the US, there are lots of people in need with this financial crisis… they want to explode the moon just to prove there is water, and therefore, there is a chance of life in the future, after we destroy everything here, like parasites.
Okay if we plan on doing this…what happens when the moon blows up! and then we all start floating around like astrounates!! ur crazy NASA!
DO NOT DO IT! THIS IS HORRIBLE!!!! Do not Hurt La Luna!!!!
i think that we all seriously need to hope for the best because their obviously going to bomb the moon with or without our consent and we have to have faith that nothing is going to go wrong
i hope all goes well and hope we can all enjoy another beautiful day
GOOD LUCK NASA
Who knows, maybe this is part of the master plan to throw the moon’s orbit a little off to help us get rid or deviate the meteor that is on the way to crash into earth. It is on it’s way I think about 800 years or so. I am confident that Nasa’s scientist studied the effects of colliding/bombing the moon before attempting it and planning it. They live here too you know, hopefully they studied it… If not then I will be glad to meet you all at a bar and get something really strong to drink.
By the way I was being a bit sarcastic, but sarcasm does not translate well into chat boxes. There is no weapon or device, that I am aware of, strong enough to throw a meteor the size of the moon out of orbit. The substance and rock make up of the moon will just absorb the blow.
Kind of the same issue with the meteor that is on it’s way, we do not know the make up of the meteor so if it’s, to put it in layman terms, more porous filled then normal rocks, not even our strongest atomic bomb can nudge it’s orbit.
you guys are all retarded. Well not all off you, some pose interesting argument. Firstly it is important to remember that this is not a bomb. It is pretty much a huge keg full of liquid moving at a high speed. The impact will resemble throwing a pebble on a huge beach rather than the effect that a bomb would have. The chances of anything breaking off the moon and hitting Earth are actually nil. The moon has a gravitational pull of it’s own and therefore any chunks would simply orbit the moon. I am slightly worried by the alien prospects and whethere an intergalatic war with some kind of xenomorphic race but this seems highly unlikely as we would surely prefer information over dominance. At first my reaction to the mission was that it may knock the moon off course and put us in danger but on further research it is apparent that every single person on earth (thats about 7 billion people by the way) would need to throw 1million missiles each in order to change the moons rotation by even 1mp/s. So please only be concerned about the Xenomorphs. We will be fine.
Cause and Effect. We all know what happens when we bomb things here on the Earth. What gives anyone the right to bomb the moon? I can here it now oops “we didn’t think that would happen”, well guess what some of us have common sense. Why does the human race need to bomb anything? Looking for water???? Hahaha our planet is mostly water and of course there is RAIN! 2012 may end up being a major change, FOR REAL. I really think bombing the moon is crazy!!!!
I’m scared. If something really big doesn’t happen tonight, the changes in tides and earthquakes that this is gonna create are really sad. And all this (over 500 mill) while the homeless keep roaming the streets in ever increasing numbers!
I can’t wait to hear Iran and Venezuela’s reaction to this outrage! It’s weird they haven’t been covering this event much…
Houston, YOU have a problem!
[...] water from Earth. To the many readers who humorously commented on our preview story of this event here, good news, the sky is not falling (so [...]
[...] NASA to Bomb the Moon to Search for Water | ChattahBox News Blog(ChattahBox)—NASA plans to launch a powerful missile aimed directly at the South pole of the moon with the goal of blasting a hole in the lunar surface. Space.Read More [...]
I can not believe it, NASA bombed the moon!,If I worked there I would speak out and say that it might be riskey!…I hope they find life somewere someday!
I really hope that there are no bad effects from bombing the moon. It just seems insane.
Damn NASA I know NYC water is a mess … but dont we have enough fresh water on EARTH! they dont gotta steal it from the moon lol JK JK
maybe in some unusual way, nasa (and other sinister us agencies) think they can spin the moon to reverse the effects of global warming and give us a different view of the moon to boot!
We rammed many, many spacecraft into the moon in the 60s and 70s. Photographic probes, spent Apollo stages, upper stages of the lunar landers, etc.
Both the US and the USSR dropped tons, probably hundreds of tons, of stuff on the moon, and nothing bad happened.
The moon didn’t break up, aliens didn’t come to earth with death rays in retaliation, nothing was pulled or pushed out of orbit, and no meteor swarms rained down on our cities.
Do some research before you post ignorant nonsense.
what retard thought this was a good idea: and how many idiots do you have to put into the pentagon to actually approve such a bad idea and they wonder why people hate the USA and why they were attacked on sept 11. Lets use our heads a little and stop trying to destroy everything. You want to see something sestroyed start with yourselves
Well the military failed in 1972 as all moon missions since 1969 have been military. Right forget Iran and there so called weapons of mass destruction england,china,russia,america & australia have enough of them to blow this planet up and speaking of planets as the moon is an artificial satellite as stated in a 1972 book, and the USA do not want to upset those beings up there!!
that is the worlds most coolest thing to do i agree with some people about hurting the moon.
I think it is sad that sciences curiousity, is too often destructive,
They can’t figure out how to save our planet from our own experiments,
yet they go into space to create more problems,
Is it not simple that our sun and moon are their to help us live here ?
Are we not different from other planets around us ?
I don’t think they should be allowed to do such things without our Worlds VOTE,,,
since it will effect us all…
How do we know now, if this will cause the moon to crack later ?
Did they just create a new new fault line on the moon ?
some cultures past legends down about another planet that is no longer with us,
some claim it was destroyed and some people from it came here to survive …?
How many people do you guys think will survive if we allow our solar system to be over tested and damaged, or destroyed ..? Do you guys think NASA will build a space ship big enough for us all to fit on it , headed for the next hopeful galaxy ?
It is tax payer funded.. Isn’t it ? Shouldn’t we atleast be ask for an opinion ?
personally I would love to look through the Hubble scope…
On August 11th, 2008 the Hubble Telescope hit the 100,000 orbit mark! Since its launch in April of 1990 the Hubble Space Telescope has been traveling at 5 miles per second with its on-board odometer racking up around 2.72 BILLION miles! That’s about 5,700 trips to the moon and back! In October of this year the STS-125 crew will be be working on the 5th and final servicing mission to Hubble. There are currently 5 spacewalks scheduled for Atlantis where astronauts will install new equipment and repair broken instruments. Once this mission is complete, NASA’s favorite telescope will need to live out the remainder of its days alone in space, with no chance of repair. This is the story of the Hubble Space Telescope, or HST. this was on youtube….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLHqmudw8tU
WHY WOULD SOMEONE WANT TO BOMB THE MOON, DONT THESE PEOPLE KNOW THE MOON CONTROLS SO MUCH OF THE EARTH…..THE MOON CONTROLS THE TIDE IN THE OCEAN, IT CONTROLS THE CROPS THAT WE GROW ON FARMS…THE MOON IS SO PRECIOUS TO LIFE ON EARTH AND NOW THEY WANT TO BLOW IT UP…WHAT ABOUT THE SMALL ROCKS THATS GONNA COME OFF OF IT, WHEN THEY COME DOWN A BIG BALLS OF FIRE AND HIT THE EARTH, WHAT WE GONNA DO THEN?? MOVE TO THE MOON?? OH SHYT, WE CANT DO THAT EITHER!!!! I THINK THE DECISION IS NO WISE
[...] Originally Posted by K Jones When did this happen? Do you believe that is really what they were doing? Don’t we have enough water and ice here on earth? I haven’t heard the first bit of news on this topic, seems very strange and overt. hmm. It is strange. I heard about it a few weeks before it happened and I was reminded when I saw the evening news. Here’s the story [...]
your a so stupid there not trying to blow it up
[...] — Remember that rocket that was launched at the moon last month to kick up a plume of material? It turns out it made a significant find. Jubilant NASA [...]
What the heck are you people thinking??? Who gives you the right to shoot the moon? The moon does not belong to Nasa or anyone and what your doing has no know effects? I wana know who’s paying the guy who came up with this idea, cause his ass needs something better to do. Think about the economy and all the millions of people starving in our world, Oh but wait..they dont matter lets just spend the money we could feed them with and see if we cant shoot a few holes in the Moon! Im disgusted that the government would even think of using money for something so stupid right now..when people are suffering. We have water. What a wast of tax payers dollars!!!
hahah here comes 2012. its getting more believeable by the minute.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
be be careful not to hit george bush’s clubhouse, or his extraterrestial tea parties will come to an end
Anybody care to read Tom heneghan’s blogspot will note that he says they are attempting to control the weather here on earth by bombing the moon. They want to create a south pole tilt to hide or create global warming. Read somewhere that the gravity on the moon is much closer to earth’s than we have been led to believe, so a base there may make some sense esp. if you plan to destroy earth w/ war.
has anybody noticed the changes – major snows in the northeast with record breaking total accumulations, major earthquakes in Haiti and Chile – you cant tell me Mother Nature is not punishing us for damaging the moon. You want to find frozen water? Here – have 4 feet! you want property damage ? How’s an 8.8 for you?