To The Moon Again

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and LCROSS impactor are on their way to the Moon. They were scheduled for launch Wednesday, but that was delayed in favor of space shuttle Endeavour. As it turned out, of course, Endeavour didn't go, and won't until at least mid-July.

The major goal of NASA's first lunar mission in a decade, as reported earlier in this blog, is to determine whether water ice exists on the permanently shadowed floors of deep craters near the lunar poles.

If it does exist in usable quantities, establishing a permanent human presence on the Moon will be that much easier. Not easy, or inexpensive, but easier. The location of the ice would also give NASA, and perhaps the international community, a clear site for the first base, which should help focus the project in the public mind.