Terry (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} l_stboy) wrote,@ 2009-05-29 10:03:00 |
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Badda Boom! (or how to design a space program with input from 4 year olds)
Ok, so here's the thing, right? There's a possibility that when the moon formed, or broke off from the earth, or whatever happened, there was water on it. But, no atmosphere, so the water boiled off. But what if, deep in the craters at the poles, which have never seen sunshine, there's still some ice left from billions of years ago?
Cool, huh? If there were water on the moon, we could make a moon base, and not have to take all our water (which is damn heavy) up with us.
So how do we find out?
We'll launch a satellite full of sensors, and when it's on the way to the moon we'll turn it around so the booster rocket goes first. We'll let the booster rocket get waaaay out in front, and then SMASH!!! it into a crater on the pole! The rocket will kick up a huge plume of dirt, and hopefully some ice, too. Then our satellite will fly into the plume and look for water really quickly and report back really quickly because it can't slow down or turn in time so 5 minutes later it's going to SMASH!!! into the crater too!
No really, it'll be awesome!
http://lcross.arc.nasa.gov/
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ETA: !!! the director of the program wrote and performed a kenny loggins-esque rock song about his mission, and it's actually kind of catchy. There's a music video link at the bottom right of the lcross.arc.nasa.gov page.
faster faster, hands in the air
we're going to crash
searching for the answers like galileo
through his looking glass
thirst for reason
a dreamer's eyes we gaze into,
a sense of purpose known by few,
like finding water on the moon...
Ok, so here's the thing, right? There's a possibility that when the moon formed, or broke off from the earth, or whatever happened, there was water on it. But, no atmosphere, so the water boiled off. But what if, deep in the craters at the poles, which have never seen sunshine, there's still some ice left from billions of years ago?
Cool, huh? If there were water on the moon, we could make a moon base, and not have to take all our water (which is damn heavy) up with us.
So how do we find out?
We'll launch a satellite full of sensors, and when it's on the way to the moon we'll turn it around so the booster rocket goes first. We'll let the booster rocket get waaaay out in front, and then SMASH!!! it into a crater on the pole! The rocket will kick up a huge plume of dirt, and hopefully some ice, too. Then our satellite will fly into the plume and look for water really quickly and report back really quickly because it can't slow down or turn in time so 5 minutes later it's going to SMASH!!! into the crater too!
No really, it'll be awesome!
http://lcross.arc.nasa.gov/
---
ETA: !!! the director of the program wrote and performed a kenny loggins-esque rock song about his mission, and it's actually kind of catchy. There's a music video link at the bottom right of the lcross.arc.nasa.gov page.
faster faster, hands in the air
we're going to crash
searching for the answers like galileo
through his looking glass
thirst for reason
a dreamer's eyes we gaze into,
a sense of purpose known by few,
like finding water on the moon...
