Personally I think instead of building and launching satellites to just impact them on the surface is a waste. Yes it will cost more but a 3-4 person crew landing on the moon could do a heck of a lot better. Just bring some drilling equipment and a rover and do several sample gatherings. Sometimes with all this lack of just going to the moon almost makes you want to believe the conspiracy theories on whether the USA didn't land there or if it was staged :)You can see the full article here with pics: http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/oct/12/nasa-moon-bomb-hit-dry-hole.htm
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NASA's much-anticipated 'moon bombing' mission, in which it sent the LCROSS spacecraft to the moon to strike a crater in order to collect frozen water, may have literally hit a 'dry hole', as there were no billowing plumes of dust and ice visible after the impact.According to a report in National Geographic News, NASA's [ Images ] Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite mission sent two spacecraft 'bombing' into the moon on October 9.The craft successfully struck their target, a crater thought to harbour frozen water.But, the much-hyped moon show that had been expected to accompany the impact, however, turned out to be a flop, as no billowing plumes of dust and ice were visible through backyard telescopes or on NASA TV.The low-impact collision had one NASA expert musing that LCROSS may have struck a 'dry hole'.At 7:31 am ET [ Images ] on October 9, a 2.2-ton empty rocket shot from the LCROSS probe hit the crater Cabeus A on the moon's South Pole.Four minutes later, LCROSS performed its own kamikaze dive, which was the final act in its mission to detect evidence of water ice in the moon's shadowed craters.Whether or not sky-watchers could see the LCROSS crashes, NASA insists they happened."I can certainly report that there was an impact," said LCROSS principal investigator Anthony Colaprete. "We saw the impact and we saw the crater," he added.When the rocket crashed into the moon, though, cameras on LCROSS registered no discernable change in the crater -- at least to the untrained eye.'It was hard to tell what we saw there,' said Michael Bicay, science director at NASA Ames Research Centre in California, during live coverage on NASA TV.A closer inspection of LCROSS impact images, though, has revealed a small white speck that scientists think is the debris thrown up by the first crash, but it will take time for scientists to determine whether it is evidence of water on the moon, according to NASA.'I am not going to say anything about water or no water, but we got the data that we need to address the question,' LCROSS principal investigator Colaprete said.For many amateur astronomers who got up early to watch the crashes through telescopes or on NASA TV, the crashes were a bit anticlimactic.'We had telescopes (as wide as) 32 inches, and nothing was seen,' said Siegfried Jachmann, vice president of the Salt Lake Astronomical Society in Utah.Scientists said that it could be days before data transmitted by LCROSS are fully analysed.
Was the LCROSS mission a success?
RE: Was the LCROSS mission a success?
I just think with all the advancements in technology and mechanics that we could easily accomplish a landing and drilling mission and bring back all types of info we couldn't get in the 60's and from satellites taking pictures of the moon.Personally the Hubble has probably been the best thing NASA has done besides the moon landing.
RE: Was the LCROSS mission a success?
Well they managed to hit it,I count that as a success 
RE: Was the LCROSS mission a success?
OMG... if they actually missed and had to re-approach target area, someone would need to walk into NASA command center and just turn the power off and say 'I can't believe you missing the moon!'
RE: Was the LCROSS mission a success?
Darkone wrote:
OMG... if they actually missed and had to re-approach target area, someone would need to walk into NASA command center and just turn the power off and say 'I can't believe you missing the moon!'
Someone maybe should have done that IIRC a few years back they lost mars mission?.RE: Was the LCROSS mission a success?
They should put a volunteer draft in place to go into space on manned missions. I bet NASA would get a crap load of volunteers to go up in space and perform duties. Anyone can be trained... crap they have sent dogs and monkeys.Anything to get more excitement in space again. People are like whatever now, only thing would get them excited would be earth ending asteroid, a real alien landing filmed with death and destruction and of course some independence day stuff 
RE: Was the LCROSS mission a success?
You know I think we may have to wait for a new cold war to start with the Chinese beforegovernments start to take space seriously again.
RE: Was the LCROSS mission a success?
Unfortunately I think your right. Only time technology and ambition really take off is when your existence is at possible risk. I bet if there was an aggressive alien species we found we would have some amazing technology suddenly popup