{"id":1244,"date":"2009-10-09T06:30:00","date_gmt":"2009-10-09T11:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nicholsclan.com\/tinblog\/2009\/10\/poof-goes-the-moon.html"},"modified":"2009-10-09T06:30:00","modified_gmt":"2009-10-09T11:30:00","slug":"poof-goes-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timscogitorium.com\/tinblog\/2009\/10\/poof-goes-moon.html","title":{"rendered":"Poof Goes the Moon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Right about now, NASA should be crashing part of their LCROSS orbiter<\/a> (Lunar Crater Observation Sensing Satellite) into a moon crater in an effort to create a dust plume that the remaining parts of the satellite can analyze prior to also face planting itself on the surface. The objective will be to get a reading on whether or not ice exists just under the lunar crust. If so, it could make plans for a permanent manned lunar base feasible, and also would indicate that water is pretty common in the cosmos. Also, an indication that life may not be so uncommon. From a science angle this is huge. What we learn from this could forever alter the course of space exploration. In addition, it is a wonderful example of using something low tech (a ballistic projectile) to get high tech data in return.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>However, the really cool aspect of this story is not the actual story at all. It is the conspiracy theories<\/a> that the moon probe has cooked up from the fringes.<\/p>\n