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NASA to Send Probe Crashing to the Moon

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced plans this week to crash a space probe into the moon in 2009 - a collision so violent "it will be visible on Earth through a telescope", the space agency said. The moon crash, part of a larger NASA mission that includes a lunar orbiter, is a quest for ice. Water is the key ingredient for supporting future human outposts on the moon, a key goal of the Bush administration regarding the future of the American space program.

The mission is set to launch in October 2008, with a rocket that carries both the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and impactor. The orbiter will circle the moon for at least a year, mapping the surface, searching for water and scouting for potential future landing sites to send astronauts. It will pay particular attention to the Moon`s "South Pole", which NASA considers ideal for locating a future outpost.

If ice is found on the Moon, it could potentially be melted and the water used to help make rocket fuel. The 2008 mission won`t be the first time NASA has crashed a robotic probe into the moon. In the 1960s, the space NASA launched nine Ranger spacecraft on such a mission, but only three were successful, beaming back close-up pictures as they crashed. The 1999 orbiting Lunar Prospector collided into the moon, but it was considered a disappointment because it failed to kick up a cloud of debris.