The NASA Mission Information Page by Jeffry J. Brickley
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Last Updated: 11/16/99.
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The Lunar Prospector

NASA's first mission to the moon in 25 years!! Launched on Jan 6, this mission will be searching for water-ice on the moon. Yes, WATER. If found, this could be a major discovery. Water can be used to create Hydrogen and Oxigen which could be used for fuel or creating a atmosphere for a future moon-base. The possiblities are endless **IF** water is found and found in a usable quantity! The good news is that the moon is REAL close in astronomical terms. We have to wait a year for the full operation of the Mars Global Explorer, but only a month before we start getting data from the Lunar Prospector. The results of this lunar survey may well spur on more lunar missions, so keep an eye on the results here or at the official NASA Lunar Prospector page. The Lunar Prospector has a decent set of analysis equipement so that, even if water is not found, it should provide a great deal of information about the origins of our moon and possibly the rest of the solar system.

03-9-98: Well, they did it!! According to a month-long analysis of the data from the lunar probe, THERE IS WATER-ICE on the moon!! Although this is just the initial findings of the space-craft, I do not doubt that this will be a revolutionary discovery for the space program.... For a full write up of the NASA story released on March 5, 1998 read the NASA press release.