I pulled the following quote from a discovery.com article:
The only immediate result the LCROSS science team reported was a detection of sodium in the tenuous lunar atmosphere. Colaprete said the measurement jumped out as a result of heating from the impact.
"Something was thermalized down in the crater when we hit it. Temperatures got hot enough, reacted with the surface perhaps or reacted with the ambient atmosphere enough to excite sodium atoms," Colaprete said.
"Why an impact like this would excite it is a good question and that's something we're really going to follow up on," he said.
The explanation for this excitation is likely the voltage difference between the lunar surface and the LCROSS rocket. An electric discharge occurred between the rocket and the surface just before the rocket's impact.
I've gotten the impression that the plume was smaller than anticipated. This is likely because the rocket was partially vaporized by the discharge event.
Nasa has had enough evidence of voltage discharge to be able to land craft on the moon without destruction, so if one occurred it would have had to have been by design. They did lose numerous craft while working up to Apollo. The fact that they won't admit that as a reason for why so many early moon probes "ceased to function just before landing" is just the usual refusal to admit to electric phenomena in space.
However, considering the moon is tidal locked and in close proximity to the earth the charge differential is not going to be that extreme, as the moon is too close to the earth to maintain a large differential without either being repulsed or attracted.
In all likelihood the plume was smaller than expected for one of two reasons: The Lcross did not crash directly into the moon's surface, instead crashing into multiple tiers of glass supports for a dome before actual impact, which considering the fairly small mass, would have absorbed a large part of the kinetic force before it hit the surface, or, if the Hollow moon theory has any merit, it is possible that the impact was so carefully chosen not for "always being in shadow" but because that "shadow" may have concealed an opening.
I watched the impact. I was frowning when Nasa suddenly had to "drop the resolution because too much contrast data was surpassing the broadcast bandwidth of the camera" at approx two minutes to impact. The picture went from a sharp clear image of the crater to one which the gamma seemed to have suddenly been reduced to 50% or less.
And then absolutely NOTHING visible on camera or FLIR during the impact. And the final camera shot seemed to come from a mile or more above the surface when they declared "probe has crashed" and the feed ceased.
I pulled the following quote from a discovery.com article:
ReplyDeleteThe only immediate result the LCROSS science team reported was a detection of sodium in the tenuous lunar atmosphere. Colaprete said the measurement jumped out as a result of heating from the impact.
"Something was thermalized down in the crater when we hit it. Temperatures got hot enough, reacted with the surface perhaps or reacted with the ambient atmosphere enough to excite sodium atoms," Colaprete said.
"Why an impact like this would excite it is a good question and that's something we're really going to follow up on," he said.
The explanation for this excitation is likely the voltage difference between the lunar surface and the LCROSS rocket. An electric discharge occurred between the rocket and the surface just before the rocket's impact.
I've gotten the impression that the plume was smaller than anticipated. This is likely because the rocket was partially vaporized by the discharge event.
Just guessing here, though.
Nasa has had enough evidence of voltage discharge to be able to land craft on the moon without destruction, so if one occurred it would have had to have been by design. They did lose numerous craft while working up to Apollo. The fact that they won't admit that as a reason for why so many early moon probes "ceased to function just before landing" is just the usual refusal to admit to electric phenomena in space.
ReplyDeleteHowever, considering the moon is tidal locked and in close proximity to the earth the charge differential is not going to be that extreme, as the moon is too close to the earth to maintain a large differential without either being repulsed or attracted.
In all likelihood the plume was smaller than expected for one of two reasons: The Lcross did not crash directly into the moon's surface, instead crashing into multiple tiers of glass supports for a dome before actual impact, which considering the fairly small mass, would have absorbed a large part of the kinetic force before it hit the surface, or, if the Hollow moon theory has any merit, it is possible that the impact was so carefully chosen not for "always being in shadow" but because that "shadow" may have concealed an opening.
I watched the impact. I was frowning when Nasa suddenly had to "drop the resolution because too much contrast data was surpassing the broadcast bandwidth of the camera" at approx two minutes to impact. The picture went from a sharp clear image of the crater to one which the gamma seemed to have suddenly been reduced to 50% or less.
And then absolutely NOTHING visible on camera or FLIR during the impact. And the final camera shot seemed to come from a mile or more above the surface when they declared "probe has crashed" and the feed ceased.
Oh, and Val,
ReplyDeleteAs you say, another point.
The sodium atoms in question are said to have
been "excited," suggesting that they had been
heated, presumably by the impact.
If they had been in water beneath the presumed
glass, I would expect the *immediate quench* of
the impact debris to preclude any such excitation.
I therefore *assume* that said *excited* sodium
atoms were from said glass.
Hence, for Mr. Z's purposes, my speculations remain
exactly that---speculations.
Close enough for Government work, eh, Val? :-))))
(NASA, that is....)
:-)
Hathor -- Just wanting to be clear as glass about
this...
;-)
P.S.: Had NaCl been involved, I would have to ask,
what happened to the excited chlorine???
No spectral line evident for that, apparently....
Comment, Zakhur?
:-)
Okay, Val.
ReplyDeleteI was going on your reference
to "saltwater mini oceans."
Cool.
:-)
Hathor -- Checking out SCUBA gear
;-)