Crashing Into the Moon. On Purpose

what the big deal about that, there is so much more they can learn
from impacts that cant be learned by soft landing, plus the hard
landings are cheaper. the only other way to get this info is to land
some major equipment there, most of which would require onsite
handling, meaning people.

--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, "Alex Michael Bonnici"
wrote:
>
> Crashing Into the Moon. On Purpose
>
> July 31st, 2006
>
> It might sound hard to believe, but dozens of spacecraft have
crashed themselves onto the surface of the Moon. All in the name of
science. The first was the Soviet spacecraft Luna 2, which smashed
into the lunar surface in 1959. Well, an upcoming mission is all set
to do it again. NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite
(LCROSS) will launch in 2008 together with the Lunar Reconnaissance
Orbiter. Its booster rocket will smash into the Moon first, carving
out a large crater, and then the smaller Shepherding spacecraft will
smash into the same spot, analyzing the debris cloud before it's
destroyed too.