π NASA crashes rocket stage on Moon to find water
NASA deliberately impacted a 5,000-pound rocket stage into the Cabeus crater on October 9, 2009. This mission targeted the lunar south pole, where scientists suspected water ice could survive in extreme cold. The Centaur stage struck at roughly 5,600 mph, ejecting dust and vapor for LCROSS to analyze. A 2010 paper reported spectral signatures of water vapor and ice, estimating about 155 kilograms of water. This experiment established evidence that lunar soil in shadowed craters contains useful materials. π§