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Guests: Lori B. Garver, Jim Garvin and Benjamin Neumann
Water on the moon? NASA recently found evidence of it. But is there more, and how much? That's what NASA hopes to find out on Oct. 9, 2009, when the space agency crashes a spacecraft into the lunar surface of earth's closest celestial neighbor.
The mission is called the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), and visitors can see it live on the Newseum's 40-foot high-definition media screen located in The New York Times—Ochs-Sulzberger Great Hall of News.
At approximately 7:25 a.m., the first satellite is scheduled to crash into the moon, creating a crater and a cloud of dust and debris that will rise above the lunar surface.
At 7:30 a.m., the second satellite will fly through the debris — analyzing it and the lunar surface to determine the presence of hydrated minerals and potentially water — before it impacts the moon.
Doors open to the public at 6:30 a.m. The program starts at 7 a.m. Participants include Lori B. Garver, NASA deputy administrator; Jim Garvin, chief scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center; and Benjamin Neumann, director of NASA's Advanced Capabilities Division. [Personally, I didn't see Lori Garver or Jim Garvin.]
The LCROSS mission lays the groundwork for future exploration of the moon. Water on the moon would have various uses for astronaut life support as they work on the moon.
The mission is dedicated to the memory of legendary news anchor Walter Cronkite, who covered the historic Apollo 11 moon landing and other memorable NASA events. Cronkite died July 17 at age 92. [Chip Cronkite, Walt's son, was present.]
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