As close as the moon is to earth, we do not know nearly as much about it as Mars. There have been no major projects to map the surface of the moon like there has been for Mars. Ever since the Apollo missions ended man has stayed away from the moon. So this is why NASA decided to start up a new mission, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite mission, to view and study the moon more closely.  The plan was to crash an old rocket (roughly the size of an SUV) into a crater on the southern pole of the moon and collect samples and observe the debris that shot up from the estimated 1.5 ton explosion. The moon is thought to be rich in hydrogen, a possible link to water on the moon. Although the collision with the moon will be nothing significant, they estimate 3-4 of these happen every week.

                Now back to the present, we know that the collision did occur on October 9, 2009. But many people who waited and watched anticipating a big collision were left disappointed. It seems that the result of the impact was less than what many people were predicting and the data collected may suffer as a result. NASA’s official results concluded a truly outstanding discovery: there are traces of water on the moon. This new discovery opens up inordinate possibilities for future missions – and the possibility of permanent settlements.