There's water on the moon!
More precisely, there's frozen water in the permanently shadowed Cabeus Crater at the lunar South pole.
Project lead investigative scientist Anthony Colaprete announced at a midday NASA news conference at the Ames Research Center about the LCROSS Centaur project, I'm here today to tell you that indeed, yes, we found water. And we didn't find just a little bit; we found a significant amount" -- about a dozen, two-gallon bucketfuls, he said, holding up several white plastic containers.
The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, back on October 9 intentionally crashed into the permanently shadowed region of Cabeus crater near the moon's south pole.
So what's the significance of this discovery that has the scientific world buzzing?
Finding significant frozen water amounts means that a permanent manned lunar base just made a giant leap forward toward becoming a reality by 2020.
That's assuming NASA's effort to establish a US base gets properly funded by the federal government
The
Chinese space program has set a goal of placing taikonauts on the moon by 2020 as well.
Water on the moon means we humans don't have to transport it up there from Earth. It is also one of the ingredients for making rocket fuel.
Previous spacecraft have detected the presence of hydrogen in lunar craters near the poles, which could be evidence of ice. In September, scientists reported finding tiny amounts of water mixed into the lunar soil all over the lunar surface.
"We've had hints that there is water. This was almost like tasting it," said Peter Schultz, professor of geological sciences at Brown University and a co-investigator on the LCROSS mission.
Mission scientists said it would take more time to tease out what else was kicked up in the mile high moon dust plume the impact temporarily stirred up.
"The discovery opens a new chapter in our understanding of the moon," the space agency said in a written statement shortly after the briefing began.
Michael Wargo, chief lunar scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington, said the latest discovery also could unlock the mysteries of the solar system.
Yeah, if we can get the funding to do so past the GOP Know-Nothings and Neo-Luddites in Congress.
The TransGriot will be tuned in later today to watch the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis at 2:28 PM EST assuming there are no delays or problems.
STS-129 is slated to be the 31st and final space shuttle crew rotation flight to or from the space station. In addition to transporting parts and a spare gyroscope to the International Space Station, it will include three spacewalks.
