Nasa craft on crash course for the Moon

Water prospecting Wily E Coyote style

Nasa is planning to smash a spacecraft into the south pole of the Moon in order to discover whether there is water at the location.

The US space agency will launch two satellites in October, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Lunar Crater and Observation Sensing Satellite (LCROSS).

LCROSS will go on a three-month journey until it is over the south pole of the Moon.
In February 2009 the $709m LCROSS will separate into two units, the larger of which will be shot at the surface at high speed. Once it strikes, the second satellite will scan the debris cloud before flying through it to analyse the results.

"This payload delivery represents a new way of doing business for Nasa," said Daniel Andrews, LCROSS project manager at Nasa's Ames Research Center.

"LCROSS primarily is using commercial off-the-shelf instruments to meet the mission's accelerated development schedule and cost restraints."

Nasa is hoping to find evidence of hydrogen in the plume, which would indicate that water could be present. This would be a major help in Nasa's plans to set up a permanent Moon base.