Countdown to Impact on the Moon Oct. 9

LCROSS will crash on the Moon at the site near the one pictured above on the morning of Friday, October 9, 2009. The science goal is to search for water ice on the Moon. The spacecraft will make two impacts into a lunar crater named Cabeus prime.at the lunar South Pole. Cabeus is permanently shadowed, so ice lying inside the crater could be protected from the Sun's harsh rays. LCROSS will send the upper stage Centaur rocket crashing into Cabeus, and a shepherd spacecraft will fly into the plume of dust generated and measure its properties before making a second impact with the lunar surface. Astronomers will seek to observe the impact using ground and space-based telescopes.

If you have a 10-inch telescope and reside in the western United States, now may be the time to start setting-up for observation of the LCROSS impact. And, a touch of mood music.