NASA's next Moon mission
To get more bang for our buck, the space agency launches two missions at once.
Ten years ago, NASA's Lunar Prospector detected hydrogen in permanently shadowed craters at the Moon's poles. These readings intrigued scientists who wondered if water-ice existed there. So, in April 2006, NASA scheduled the Lunar CRater Observing and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission to find the answer. NASA selected LCROSS because of its relatively low cost and because it could ride along with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).