CNN’s reporting they found water on the moon? Nasa crashed a satellite into the dark side of a crater and sent a rocket trough the debris cloud and it found water.
I’m pretty sure they already knew that, there was even a small shitstorm a few months ago since the news got leaked before NASA could make a fancy exclusive reveal. This mission was just to go and actually see the stuff.
Still, pretty cool
Why is it so hard to find water on other planets?
None of the other planets contain the right conditions for water to be found as a liquid- Venus has conditions which can melt lead and the temperature fluctuates wildly on Mercury and the Moon that water can only be found frozen at the poles which are in constant shadow (yep, they reckon there’s water on Mercury). On Mars the air pressure is so low any water found would evaporate immediately- even at an average temperature of around -10 degrees C- and everywhere else it’s too cold.
…With the exception of Europa and Ganymede (two of Jupiter’s largest moons), which are supposed to have immense oceans underneath several-kilometres-thick icy crusts. Of course, actually accessing that water will be a bitch… and quite possibly they wouldn’t want to do so at Europa for fear of disturbing the locals.
Seriously. NASA ordered the Galileo spacecraft to self-terminate in Jupiter’s atmosphere partially over fears it might somehow contaminate Europa.
[i]Perdon, donde esta el bano?
Al fondo a la derecha.[/i] 
I must admit I’m surprised there’s water in the Moon, I knew about the other moons in the solar system but ours always seemed dry. So it’s subterranean or an ice shelf?
Part of me wonders if this isn’t some publicity stunt to drum up more funding for NASA. Hey, stranger stories have been told. 
But yeah, water on the Moon opens a lot of interesting possibilities (real and in fiction.)
Just poor HOT water onto the ice. duh.
Orly.
You should write them a letter Charle. They can call it Operation: Byzantine
They suspect there’s life there or do they hope so?
Phobos-Grunt mission, scheduled initially for an October launch and now postponed until 2011, has an interesting list of passengers on board that also raised a prospect of the interplanetary contamination.
http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/innovative_technologies/life/organisms.html
Even though, Lou Friedman, Planetary Society’ top honcho swears that project LIFE will fully comply with the COSPAR (Committee on Space Research of the International Council for Science) planetary protection guidelines, some space scientists are scratching their heads why anyone would risk putting Earthly microorganisms anywhere near Mars.
Hoping more than expecting: http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/faqeuropa.html
In 2026, if everything goes as planned, Jupiter Europa Orbiter (JEO) should provide more details what’s under Europa’s ice shell.
Interesting choice of candidates. Good to hear they are giving an equal balance between the three Kingdoms. I also like that tardigrades are added in there. I love those water bears.
Why is it such a big deal? Couldn’t they just disinfect the landers before they send them to Ganymede?
extraordinary resistances
)happens.
I’m curious what became of the USSR’s manned mission to the sun that Seifer references.
Oh yes, the infamous Soyuz “Friday the” 13 flight. Well, that mission proceeded in coordination with the Almaz military program. I am not sure if the mission was successful, since it was extra, ultra, mega top secret, but forty years after the launch, the information is sipping through bits by bits. Apparently, midway through the flight, the crew and the spacecraft run out of juice. 
National Geographic released an article a few days ago with a screaming headliner: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/11/091116-jupiter-moon-life-europa-fish.html
And as for your question in your previous post if scientists suspect that life exists on Europa or if they just hope so; at least one of them more than just suspects:
“I’d be shocked if no life existed on Europa,” said Shank, of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Of course the naysayers came out in force to blast that theory.
Well, JEO is scheduled for a 2020 launch and 2026 Europa’s rendezvous – then we should know more what’s hiding below that crust.