Tech | Updated Oct 09, 2009 at 07:30am IST

NASA probe to gauge amount of water on moon

New Delhi: Recently Chandryaan-1 and a NASA lunar probe confirmed the presence of water on moon.

Now NASA wants to find out the amount of water present on moon by smashing into its South Pole.

The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) on Friday evening will bomb the moon when a 2,000 kilogram empty, non-explosive rocket will crash into a crater on the South Pole.

Hundreds of telescopes will be watching the crash from earth.

"Having this diverse set of telescopes on the earth and in space and at the moon essentially makes us very robust and ensures our success," says Anthony Colaprete, NASA Principal Investigator, LCROSS.

Why are we bombing the moon?

Scientists think there is a lot of water frozen inside moon's craters, which are the coldest places in our solar system, because sunlight never reaches inside.

When a 2,000 kg rocket falls from a huge height, it'll kick up a plume almost 10 kilometers high.

A satellite overhead will check that plume for water and make an estimate of how much water still hides inside.

NASA's website will start giving the details from 1700 hrs IST on Friday evening.

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