LRO, and LCROSS spacecrafts on top of the Atlas V rocket waiting liftoff
Today, NASA is launching LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) / LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) Lunar Mission. The Mission is going to increase our Knowledge about the Moon and also help NASA prepare for future Lunar Missions (especially Manned Missions)
Among other aims, this Mission aims to Prepare for the return of Humans to the Moon by 2020, Find Suitable Landing sites for future Manned Missions and Develop Technology for Deeper Space Travel and to other planets like Mars.
LRO will map the Moon, Measure the Temperature and Radiation on the Moon.
LCROSS will collide with the Moon Surface at a steep angle and create fragments of debris that will be used to determine whether or not there is Water on the Surface of the Moon. NASA is going to use this Mission to test some model called In Situ Resource Utilization which includes the use of Resources found on the Moon instead of carrying them there from Earth.
Resources like Water if found on the Moon will save a great deal of Money in Transport costs among other things.
The debris will be analyzed by Telescopes around the World and the LRO. Read More about the Mission
Last Year NASA called for the public to submit their names so that they could be entered into a Database that would be saved to to a chip that would be attached to the Spacecraft and once it reaches the Moon, the names would be delivered to the Moon.
I ofcourse submitted my name so it means my name is going to be taken to the Moon. I feel good about it and I am hopeful that one we will be able to go back there physically.
Engineers Carrying a Chip containing nearly 1.6 million names to be blasted off to the moon
