First of 2 NASA planned moon crashes is a hit; Scientists look for water in kicked up dust

October 9th, 2009 NASA to moon: Get ready because here we comeWASHINGTON — Two NASA spacecraft are barreling toward the moon at twice the speed of a bullet, about to crash Friday into a lunar crater in a search for ice. "Everything is working so very well," NASA's Victoria Friedensen, a manager in NASA's exploration office, said minutes before the planned one-two smack into the moon's south pole.

October 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A US rocket is to crash into the moon Friday in an experiment scientists hope will provide data about ice hidden in the perpetually dark lunar craters. Astronomers around the world are prepared to capture the impact of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) into the moon's Caebus crater at 1130 GMT.

October 8th, 2009 Moon crashing probes complete major milestoneWASHINGTON — NASA's moon probe has separated into two pieces as planned, a major milestone toward a Friday morning double-barreled crash into the lunar surface. The smaller probe with five cameras and four other scientific instruments is now trailing behind a 2.2-ton empty rocket hull.

October 7th, 2009 You can watch NASA give the moon a one-two punchWASHINGTON — NASA will throw a one-two punch at the big old moon Friday and the whole world will have ringside seats for the lunar dust-up. NASA will send a used-up spacecraft slamming into the moon's south pole to kick up a massive plume of lunar dirt and then scour it to see if there's any water or ice spraying up.

September 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Data from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), an instrument aboard India's recently ended Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, along with the Deep Impact spacecraft, has confirmed the existence of water on the surface of the Moon, with scientists explaining the process of its formation. "Water ice on the moon has been something of a holy grail for lunar scientists for a very long time," said Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

September 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - As news trickled out about Indian maiden lunar mission tracing water molecules on the moon's surface, scientists rejoiced at the discovery and hope that it will pave the way for growing vegetation in the earth's natural satellite in future. I am really very happy to know that the the NASA payload on Chandrayaan-1 has traced water.

September 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The confirmation of elevated water molecules in the moon's polar regions by India's maiden lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 raises new questions about its origin and effect on the mineralogy of the moon, US scientists say. "Water ice on the moon has been something of a holy grail for lunar scientists for a very long time," said Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

September 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - India's maiden lunar mission Chandrayaan has been successful in finding traces of water on the lunar surface, the US space agency NASA said here Thursday, and thanked the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the partnership. A National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) official said that traces of water and hydroxyl, a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom, was also found in the lunar soil.

September 23rd, 2009 It's not lunacy, probes find water in moon dirtWASHINGTON — The moon isn't the dry dull place it seems. Traces of water lurk in the dirt unseen.

September 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The element hydrogen - a key ingredient in water - is more widespread than expected at the moon's south pole, scientists said Thursday. NASA scientists announced the first data sent back to Earth from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a satellite that will spend the next year making the most detailed maps yet of the moon's surface to prepare for man's eventual return.

August 26th, 2009 LONDON - A joint collaboration between India's Chandrayaan-1 and NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which are orbiting the moon, could turn up evidence for valuable lunar water. Some scientists suspect water ice, which would be a precious resource for future explorers, may be trapped in permanently shadowed craters at the moon's poles.

June 23rd, 2009 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).

June 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA launched a dual mission Thursday to help pave the way for humans to return to the moon, as the US space agency looks beyond the continuing needs of the International Space Station. The Atlas V rocket launch lifted off at 5:32 p.m.

June 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA launched its dual moon mission Thursday that will pave the way for humans to return to the moon. The Atlas V rocket launch lifted off at 05:32 p.m., just 20 minutes after planned, from NASA's Cape Canaveral in Florida.

May 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - US space agency NASA has said it is ready to send two missions to the moon in a launch next month that will set the course for the resumption of human lunar exploration. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) are to launch aboard a single rocket June 17.