IMPACT! |
Lunar
CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) |
The upper stage of the launch vehicle (about the weight
of a large SUV) will impact into either the North or South Pole of the Moon at over
9,000 km/h (5,600 mph).
The impact will excavate a crater about 1/3 of a football field wide
and about the depth of the deep end of a swimming pool.
The amount of material (dust and probably ice) ejected could fill ten
school buses, or ten Space Shuttle cargo bays. The plume will reach
nearly 50 km high (over 30 miles)!
Watch
an animation of a meteoroid hitting the Moon’s surface.
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