NASA to bomb the Moon on Friday morning, watch from Earth

[WarDog]

AMPA BAY, FL - NASA plans to crash a rocket into the moon early Friday, blasting a huge hole in the lunar surface to search for hidden water.

The explosion, scheduled for 7:30 a.m. Florida time, is expected to visible with from Earth using amateur telescopes, according to NASA.

It's also expected to be aired live by NASA-TV and on www.nasa.gov/ntv.

According to NASA's website, the Centaur rocket will make impact at the Moon's south pole.

Scientists tell Scientific American Magazine that they expect the blast to be so powerful that a huge plume of debris will be ejected.

A spacecraft will fly through the debris plume, sending data back to Earth before crashing into the lunar surface and creating a second debris plume, according to NASA's website.

Why blast a hole in the moon? NASA wants to see if any water, ice or vapor is revealed in the cloud of debris. If there is, that might provide supplies for a future manned moonbase.

Friday's explosion is part of NASA's LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observing and Sensing Satellite) mission looking for lunar water.

Will you get up early to watch? Click 'add a comment' at the bottom of this page to soundoff.
Copyright 2009 The E.W. Scripps Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

http://www.abcactionnews.com/content/news/onthedot/story/NASA-to-bomb-the-Moon-on-Friday-morning-watch/GPtk-WV_xUOHIZSZK1fTCA.cspx

Today, Americans would be outraged if UN troops entered Los Angeles to restore order. Tomorrow, they will be grateful." -- Henry Kissinger

[Kotin]

wouldn't that bomb vaporize any water they would find???

[justinc.1089]

So what?

I have friends on myspace that constantly post conspiracy theory stuff about the illuminati and such, and they're all absolutely freaking out about this.

But seriously, I don't get what the big deal is.

I think if it speeds up space exploration thats great, it just makes it quicker for us to be able to get off the earth and maybe make a better place to live. I mean there is nothing important on the moon at all. Its just a big rock pretty much, and I doubt NASA will even find any water with this experiment anyway.

I'm just glad NASA's not wasting their money on stuff thats not practical at all or not really related to what they're funded for. I mean with all the money they get they should have put a man on Mars by now.

[Kotin]

I'm just glad NASA's not wasting their money on stuff thats not practical at all or not really related to what they're funded for. I mean with all the money they get they should have put a man on Mars by now.



I seriously hope you are joking.. THAT IS ALL THEY DO!

[justinc.1089]

I seriously hope you are joking.. THAT IS ALL THEY DO!

Lol yeah for real. NASA is retarded. The whole point of NASA is supposedly space exploration, or at least thats what I think as far as I know, but yet they barely do anything significant with that. And floating in a tin can doesn't count as space exploration after the 45363th time you have done it in my opinion lol.

I think bombing the moon is a waste of money, because they're probably spending a crazy amount of money to do it, but I really don't care if the moon gets a hole blasted into it. It already has like a billion holes lol.

[awake]

The race to militarize space... what do you expect from the war complex. Wait till the story telling begins... Aliens, astriods, cosmic swine flu, man made galaxy warming...what ever... whip up panic and fear to get the people to accept more looting and theft.

[Elwar]

I guess it makes sense...we bomb Iraq for years and Al Quada gains a foothold there...

if we start bombing the moon...

[eOs]

america

yeah, we bomb the moon

[torchbearer]

its easier than sending someone there to dig a hole.

[tangent4ronpaul]

wouldn't that bomb vaporize any water they would find???

It's not really a bomb, it's a kinetic payload. We did the same thing with a passing comet a few years ago.

And so begins Intergalactic War I, with the Greys... :D

For all those that think NASA is a waste of money, before NASA got their hands on them a first generation IC (integrated circuit), one would cost over $1,000. Afterwords, they were under $1. They came up with CCD's - what makes your digital camera and video camera work. Kevlar, mylar, scratch resistant lenses, windshield wipers, cordless power tools, freeze dried food, dialysis, breast cancer screening, all sorts of stuff. There is a short list of some of it here:

http://www.thespaceplace.com/nasa/spinoffs.html
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1752963.ece

How NASA helped invent Silicon Valley
http://news.cnet.com/How-NASA-helped-invent-Silicon-Valley/2009-11397_3-6211034.html


I know, many detractors will say private industry could have come up with that stuff. Well, it was specialized requirements that led to much of it's development - so private industry would have come up with SOME of it, EVENTUALLY! We wouldn't have almost all of it NOW! For what we would have, it would be pretty primitive - like electronics development. For the Luddites in the audience, how about practicing what you preach and get rid of anything based on IC's for a start. You can keep your radio and TV - so long as they run on tubes. I'll send you a slide rule and a mechanical pocket watch to help get you started.

We do owe a lot to NASA.

-t

[ronpaulfollower999]

It's not really a bomb, it's a kinetic payload. We did the same thing with a passing comet a few years ago.

And so begins Intergalactic War I, with the Greys... :D

For all those that think NASA is a waste of money, before NASA got their hands on them a first generation IC (integrated circuit), one would cost over $1,000. Afterwords, they were under $1. They came up with CCD's - what makes your digital camera and video camera work. Kevlar, mylar, scratch resistant lenses, windshield wipers, cordless power tools, freeze dried food, dialysis, breast cancer screening, all sorts of stuff. There is a short list of some of it here:

http://www.thespaceplace.com/nasa/spinoffs.html
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1752963.ece

How NASA helped invent Silicon Valley
http://news.cnet.com/How-NASA-helped-invent-Silicon-Valley/2009-11397_3-6211034.html


I know, many detractors will say private industry could have come up with that stuff. Well, it was specialized requirements that led to much of it's development - so private industry would have come up with SOME of it, EVENTUALLY! We wouldn't have almost all of it NOW! For what we would have, it would be pretty primitive - like electronics development. For the Luddites in the audience, how about practicing what you preach and get rid of anything based on IC's for a start. You can keep your radio and TV - so long as they run on tubes. I'll send you a slide rule and a mechanical pocket watch to help get you started.

We do owe a lot to NASA.

-t


YES!! They use their spaceships to bomb earth, I say its time for some payback! :cool:

[coyote_sprit]

We're going to rape the moon....

[tangent4ronpaul]

YES!! They use their spaceships to bomb earth, I say its time for some payback! :cool:

pssstt: It's really a false flag operation. We're going to use some advanced jamming and make it look like the rocket came from Iran, and... :D

-t

[mtj458]

It's not really a bomb, it's a kinetic payload. We did the same thing with a passing comet a few years ago.

And so begins Intergalactic War I, with the Greys... :D

For all those that think NASA is a waste of money, before NASA got their hands on them a first generation IC (integrated circuit), one would cost over $1,000. Afterwords, they were under $1. They came up with CCD's - what makes your digital camera and video camera work. Kevlar, mylar, scratch resistant lenses, windshield wipers, cordless power tools, freeze dried food, dialysis, breast cancer screening, all sorts of stuff. There is a short list of some of it here:

http://www.thespaceplace.com/nasa/spinoffs.html
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1752963.ece

How NASA helped invent Silicon Valley
http://news.cnet.com/How-NASA-helped-invent-Silicon-Valley/2009-11397_3-6211034.html


I know, many detractors will say private industry could have come up with that stuff. Well, it was specialized requirements that led to much of it's development - so private industry would have come up with SOME of it, EVENTUALLY! We wouldn't have almost all of it NOW! For what we would have, it would be pretty primitive - like electronics development. For the Luddites in the audience, how about practicing what you preach and get rid of anything based on IC's for a start. You can keep your radio and TV - so long as they run on tubes. I'll send you a slide rule and a mechanical pocket watch to help get you started.

We do owe a lot to NASA.

-t

Right, the only time government spending can benefit the economy is if technological advancements are made. Even though NASA probably wastes a lot of money, I think its still one of the few good causes that tax dollars go towards. I don't really see much room for private enterprise in the space business yet but NASA will become a problem once they start really limiting good private opportunities, which is basically guaranteed to happen over the next century.

[Dr.3D]

It's not really a bomb, it's a kinetic payload. We did the same thing with a passing comet a few years ago.

And so begins Intergalactic War I, with the Greys... :D

For all those that think NASA is a waste of money, before NASA got their hands on them a first generation IC (integrated circuit), one would cost over $1,000. Afterwords, they were under $1. They came up with CCD's - what makes your digital camera and video camera work. Kevlar, mylar, scratch resistant lenses, windshield wipers, cordless power tools, freeze dried food, dialysis, breast cancer screening, all sorts of stuff. There is a short list of some of it here:

http://www.thespaceplace.com/nasa/spinoffs.html
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1752963.ece

How NASA helped invent Silicon Valley
http://news.cnet.com/How-NASA-helped-invent-Silicon-Valley/2009-11397_3-6211034.html


I know, many detractors will say private industry could have come up with that stuff. Well, it was specialized requirements that led to much of it's development - so private industry would have come up with SOME of it, EVENTUALLY! We wouldn't have almost all of it NOW! For what we would have, it would be pretty primitive - like electronics development. For the Luddites in the audience, how about practicing what you preach and get rid of anything based on IC's for a start. You can keep your radio and TV - so long as they run on tubes. I'll send you a slide rule and a mechanical pocket watch to help get you started.

We do owe a lot to NASA.

-t

LOL, there are some who say all of those devices were reverse engineered from alien artifacts found in the '40s. :D

[Liberty Star]

Have we run out of places on earth to bomb that we now have to bomb other planets?
We must be the top bomber nation in the history of mankind, such aggressionists we are.

But we won't be bombing the sun because it has more explosive power than we do, just the poor unarmed planets like the moon.

[TinCanToNA]

Please, everyone, don't dangle your collective ignorance for all to see.

Selected snippets: "Wouldn't the bomb vaporize the water?" Yes, that's the point. If ice particles are part of the debris ejected, then that means the experiment found water.

If you don't think NASA does anything useful or hasn't done anything useful recently, then you do not have really been paying attention.

[RedLightning]

I think it'll be a complete waste of money, but other then that I don't really care.

[devil21]

General waste of money aside, there's no concern for possibly knocking the moon off its orbit? I can see this turning out badly over time.

"Honey look at that! The moon is so big tonite!" Reminds me of the scene in Bruce Almighty.

[tangent4ronpaul]

General waste of money aside, there's no concern for possibly knocking the moon off its orbit? I can see this turning out badly over time.

"Honey look at that! The moon is so big tonite!" Reminds me of the scene in Bruce Almighty.

Somebody didn't take Physics 101...

try this - the mass range is in the ballpark... : take a bb gun and shoot it at a semi-tractor trailer or a loaded cement truck. Did you knock it off the highway?

-t

[coyote_sprit]

Somebody didn't take Physics 101...

try this - the mass range is in the ballpark... : take a bb gun and shoot it at a semi-tractor trailer or a loaded cement truck. Did you knock it off the highway?

-t

Does Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas count?

[devil21]

I got a C in Physics. I guess my question was more in relation to just how big of an impact this NASA thingie is supposed to make.

[justinc.1089]

I got a C in Physics. I guess my question was more in relation to just how big of an impact this NASA thingie is supposed to make.

Well I will give you a hint: even with all the bombs we have it would take one seriously massive bomb to blow the moon out of orbit lol. Its not exactly a pebble floating in space that will move if you blow on it lol.

[JXL78]

I think they're just trying to get rid of the alien base evidence on the dark side of the moon before China or India find it. ;-)

[Mini-Me]

I got a C in Physics. I guess my question was more in relation to just how big of an impact this NASA thingie is supposed to make.

I think the moon gets hit by bigger stuff all the time (for what "all the time" is worth on a geological scale, at least ;)); that's why there are so many craters, unless I'm being presumptuous (I haven't done any real research on it). :D

[tangent4ronpaul]

I got a C in Physics. I guess my question was more in relation to just how big of an impact this NASA thingie is supposed to make.

http://lcross.arc.nasa.gov/faq.htm

What effect will the impact have on the Moon?

Countless objects have hit the Moon since its formation (in fact, the Moon’s formation was quite possibly the product of a very large impact to the Earth). Most of the large craters one sees on the Moon resulted from large asteroid or comet impacts early in the history of the solar system; however, numerous impacts by much smaller objects continue even today. These smaller objects range in size from smaller than a grain of sand to a basketball. Most of the shooting stars one sees at night are indeed small grains to rock-sized fragments entering the Earth’s atmosphere. If they are hitting the Earth’s atmosphere, you can bet some are also hitting the Moon! (which has no atmosphere to burn them up or slow them before they reach the surface). While these objects are small, due to their high velocity (~40 km per sec), even these relatively small objects pack a considerable punch! The energy associated with the LCROSS impact is about 6 billion Joules (1 Watt = 1 Joule per sec, so the energy of LCROSS is what you’d get from 100 million 60 Watt light bulbs in a second). A 10 kg (about 22 lbs) meteorite would impact with about 8 billion Joules of energy. There are probably several of these size objects striking the Moon every few months (some have recently been imaged by small ground-based telescopes using high-speed-film cameras). So, in short, the Moon has been, and continues to be, pummeled by objects of all sizes over the last 3.9 billion years, many of them having energies many, many times greater than that of the LCROSS impact.

The LCROSS impact will not be noticed by the Moon and only noticed by those on Earth with telescopes trained on the impact site. What makes the LCROSS impact special, compared to the ongoing, natural barrage, is that we control the LCROSS impact to occur at a precise place and time. allowing us to sample a specific piece of lunar real estate and be in position to monitor it.

http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2000/MuhammadKaleem.shtml

Nuclear weapons are far more destructive than any conventional (non-nuclear) weapon. They are often called atomic bombs or hydrogen bombs. The energy released by nuclear weapons is measured in tons, kilotons (thousands of tons), or megatons (millons of tons) of TNT. In international standard units (SI), one ton of TNT is equal to 4.184 × 109 joule (J).

Nuclear weapons have a large variety of energy yields. The first detonated on July 16, 1945 near Alamogordo, New Mexico, had a yield of about 19 kilotons or 80 terajoules (1 TJ = 1012 J). The two bombs that were dropped on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II were comparable in size: 15 and 20 kilotons or 63 and 84 terajoules, respectively.

-t

[devil21]

Thank you. That's the sort of information I was looking for. Minus the smartass remarks.

[justinc.1089]

Thank you. That's the sort of information I was looking for. Minus the smartass remarks.

Sorry, I should have resisted.:(

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

why the frownie? they have been planning this for a long time, big deal, it's just the moon, no moon bunnies are going to be hurt.

[hillbilly123069]

The Time Machine.Anyone ever seen the movie?

[tangent4ronpaul]

25 minutes till impact

It's going to be on Fox, probably other stations too.

-t

[kaleidoscope eyes]

watching now

[Jags~Beach]

NASA running 5 minutes late on impact? I am wondering if this is an overt attempt to take the moon further out into orbit, or see the effect such an impact actually has on the orbit and what it would take to actually effect it, while playing the we are looking for water card? I went outside looked at the moon and it is still there... who in the hell knows what NASA is really up too?

[tangent4ronpaul]

That was kind of anti-climatic.

Guess we will have plume shots from earth observatories in a couple of hours and maybe preliminary data. Apparently the thermal signature was a good sign for water being there.

-t

[kaleidoscope eyes]

yeah, watching on NASA tv, I didin't see anything impactful either. weird.

[Yieu]

I didn't see a plume at all on the live feed.

[LiveToWin]

The ignorance in this thread is astounding… :(

[zach]

I thought we would have sophisticated enough technology to use radar and satellite to find... water.

[Jags~Beach]

Mikki says: (http://www.askmen.com/money/money-news/44_nasa-to-bomb-the-moon.html)
Lunar tides will be altered. This will cause a change in the foor chain, as many sea animals depend on the tide for food. This will directly affect humans, as we are at the top of the food chain. Earthquakes, Tsunamis, floods, a butterfly flaps it's wings and changes the weather on the other side of the earth...What does NASA think blasting a two ton bomb at 5,600mph on the surface of the moon will do, detect water that will vaporize as soon as the bomb brings the temperature to the boiling point? What water? Drop a program which costs $125,000 a year, just because it will tell us how far the moon has been knocked out of it's orbit? Believe this, there is NO WAY to alter the effects after the fact. Nobody has EVER done this before, how do they know the will do no damage? I pray.


what is our vote for? says:
I am lost here, who in the world decided that the government could just piss all our money away on this crap. 10.8% unemployment in the U.S. oh but we have 500 million to blow up the moon. The myan calendar is wrong people, that prediction was if we sat still and didn't touch anything.... we are to stupid to do that so let’s speed it up! Fanny and Freddy...good idea...tripling the deficit...better...sending jobs to china...B-E-A-utiful...blowing up the moon...how does the credit card companies say it?....Priceless! For everyone else there is communism! Who decided that the moon belonged to the U.S. anyway…I mean the world can’t fart without us taking a whiff so when does the rest of the world get to decide that we are idiots?



I thought this was remarkably insightful...

[tangent4ronpaul]

I thought this was remarkably insightful...

Mikki is an idiot. See post 26.

-t