Even without the immediate reward of a brilliant flash or decisive evidence for water on the Moon, the LCROSS impact promises success.  As the principal investigator put it during the press conference, he expected to be surprised and he was.  No fifth magnitude flare-up or giant plume of moondust, admittedly, but that’s the risk explorers take.

Infrared data suggest that the impact heated surface material enough to produce viable results, so the mission should eventually achieve its primary goals.  If water exists in the basin of Cabeus Crater, its presence should be revealed as scientists study the results of this morning’s impactful experiment.  Such discoveries don’t come without effort, however, and now the real work begins:  analyzing the images and spectra from both the spacecraft and various ground-based observatories, and continued monitoring of the Moon’s tenuous atmosphere to see what changes take place.

More pictures are dribbling in, and the Science in Action team will update the LCROSS story next week when we hope to say more about the mission.  In the meantime, scientists have their work cut out for them!  We look forward to learning about their discoveries when they’re ready to report.

—Ryan