NASA-LCROSS

[GaryN]

Any predictions from the EUers?

http://lcross.arc.nasa.gov/

[Lloyd]

* I predict that almost no water will be found, but that water can be made on the moon from the oxygen content of the rocks. The hydrogen can be obtained as well, but via transmutation via bacteria, algae, lichen etc.
* Here's Wikipedia's list of Common lunar minerals.
Mineral - Elements - Lunar rock appearance:
Plagioclase feldspar: Calcium (Ca), Aluminium (Al), Silicon (Si), Oxygen (O) - White to transparent gray; usually as elongated grains.
Pyroxene: Iron (Fe), Magnesium (Mg), Calcium (Ca), Silicon (Si), Oxygen (O) - Maroon to black; the grains appear more elongated in the maria and more square in the highlands.
Olivine: Iron (Fe), Magnesium (Mg), Silicon (Si), Oxygen (O) - Greenish color; generally, it appears in a rounded shape.
Ilmenite: Iron (Fe), Titanium (Ti), Oxygen (O) - Black, elongated square crystals.

[Lloyd]

* While reading today's TPOD on LCROSS, toward the end, in the mention of Hydrogen possibly having been detected on the moon's surface due to the solar wind, I realized that the solar wind is indeed where future astronauts can get the needed Hydrogen for generating water, assuming the solar wind density is great enough, or that there's a way to funnel solar wind ions into a container. And, by the way, it makes the same prediction that I did, that no water will be found. But it also says previous TPODs have already predicted that as well.

[GaryN]

I'll agree with the none, or very little water detected view. I'd be just as interested though in the shape and depth of the impact hole, the debris field, and the possibility of electrical discharge between the Centaur rocket being used as the impactor, and the surface. I see no mention of anything other than the water experiment. I presume the lunar seismometers are still working, so there should be some data to help refine the interior structure model.

[moses]

The Moon could also have deposits from planets at a pole.
So even fossils are possible on the Moon !
Mo