Washington - NASA will take a giant step toward bringing
humans back to the moon Tuesday as a new orbiting satellite arrives
there to search for water.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is expected to reach the
moon's orbit at 0943 (GMT).
The LRO will send back data to help scientists find the best
location for a manned landing. The question of whether there is water
on the moon, in the form of ice deep inside lunar craters, is key to
the mission.
The new lunar mission is to pave the way for the next stage of the
US space programme - building a base on the moon as a launch pad for
further space exploration. In 2010, NASA is to retire the 28-year-old
shuttle programme which has helped to build the orbiting space
station. The new moon-bound spacecraft Orion is to be ready by 2015.
The LRO is the first stage of a two-part mission launched on a
single rocket Thursday. When the LRO reaches the moon early Tuesday
it will enter an elliptical orbit so its seven-instrument payload can
be tested. After about 60 days, it will move into a low orbit over
the moon's poles to conduct its observations.
The second part, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing
Spacecraft (LCROSS), will circle the Earth for about four months
before crashing into a permanently dark crater on the lunar surface,
kicking up a cloud of dust that can be analyzed to see if it contains
water.
The LCROSS separated from the LRO craft shortly after lift-off on
Thursday to follow a different course. Along with a piece of the
Atlas rocket that boosted it into space, it is to enter into an
elongated, sweeping orbit that will take it around the Earth and moon
for the next four months.
In October, LCROSS and its rocket piece are to slam into a dark
crater near a lunar pole, kicking up a cloud of debris more than 10
km above the surface.
NASA hopes that if debris from the shadowed crater contains ice,
hydrocarbons or other organic materials, it will vaporize when it
hits sunlight.
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