Sep 11, 2009 05:27 PM | 2 One of NASA's moon probes, the Lunar
Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), will complete
a relatively simple mission next month: releasing a spent rocket
stage toward a shadowy crater, then following it to see what the
impact stirs up before crashing the mother ship itself into the
crater. All the while, Earth-based and orbiting telescopes will
be watching, looking for any evidence of water ice that might be
hidden in the crater's depths. Today, NASA unveiled its target
of choice for LCROSS's double impact on October 9: a south-polar
crater known as Cabeus A. The 48-kilometer-wide crater is named
for 17th-century Italian astronomer Niccolo Cabeo. According to
NASA, Cabeus A was chosen both for its potential for harboring
water ice and for its location, which will allow Earth observers
to track the plumes thrown up by the LCROSS impacts. For a
fuller description of the LCROSS mission, see our coverage from
June, just before the spacecraft launched. Radar image of Cabeus
A