The identification of water is very important to the future of human activities on the Moon. LCROSS will excavate the permanently dark floor of one of the Moon’s polar craters with two heavy impactors early in 2009 to test the theory that ancient ice lies buried there. The impact will eject material from the crater’s surface to create a plume that specialized instruments will be able to analyze for the presence of water (ice and vapor), hydrocarbons and hydrated materials. LCROSS will also provide technologies and modular, reconfigurable subsystems that can be used to support future mission architectures.
Ames Research Center (ARC) will oversee the development of the LCROSS mission with its spacecraft and integration partner Northrop-Grumman. This is a fast-paced, low-cost, mission that will leverage some existing NASA systems, Northrop-Grumman spacecraft expertise, and Ames’ Lunar Prospector experience. Ames will be managing the mission, performing mission operations, and is developing the payload instruments, while Northrop Grumman will be designing and building the spacecraft for this innovative mission. LCROSS and LRO now have a June 17, 2009 launch date. The four-day launch window leads to a an impact at the lunar South Pole in the range of October 7-11, 2009.