Another great move from NASA

The discovery of ice beneath the surface of the moon would be an amazing discovery. Not only because it means that a lunar base could be achieved far sooner at a much lower cost (no need to send constant shuttles up full of water) but also in terms of looking at the history of the moon-was it really formed after Earth collided with a Mars-sized object? And what causes the regular moon-quakes?

Water on the Moon would ultimately mean a near-unlimited supply of rocket fuel for the lunar base as well. (Rockets are Hydrogen powered, and the H from H2O can be separated off from the O also conveniently supplying Oxygen for the base) It could be turned into a petrol station from which spacecraft could shoot off in different directions building other space-stations which would act as other refueling stations.

So obviously the discovery of moon ice is important, but surely there has to be a better way about it than slamming two space shuttles worth around £49,000,000 into it at twice the speed of a bullet. I mean, I'm not an astronomer, so please if you're reading this and you know more about it than me, or even if you could tell me why we couldn't simply land something there and maybe send a drill probe down below the surface, then please please comment this and tell me. (Even if they have no way of getting the technology back from the moon, at least without the impact it would be salvageable once we get back there.)

According to NASA, the second shuttle was to examine the plume of dust created by the impact of the first one. Disappointingly however, there was in fact no dust plume whatsoever in the images sent back from the second shuttle. So was it a failure? Apparently not. NASA say that the fresh data they could get from the remains of the shuttles would be far better than anything that could have been sent back electronically. So all they have to do is nuke the far side of the moon hard enough to send the charred remains sitting on the near side of the moon hurtling back towards us. Gun-ho America!!

As an afterthought, I though it would be interesting (and maybe relevant) to add that our good old friend Obama has ordered a massive review of all NASA equipment and missions, which will undoubtedly delay any upcoming plans for the space agency. At least the new president acknowledges NASA exists..I heard that a certain cowboy ex-president didn't have a scientific adviser for an entire term.