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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Adler to attempt to observe the LCROSS impact LIVE

NASA has sent two space crafts to the Moon to study various aspects for future lunar manned mission.

One craft, the LRO, is taking high resolution images, and we finally got pictures back of the Apollo landing sites...realy cool.

The second craft, the LCROSS, will intentionally slam unto the lunar surface to search for water. When the booster that is carrying it hits, it will send up a plume of lunar material that might be visible through earthbound telescopes.

The Centaur Booster rocket will impact at Cabius A crater, with the LCROSS craft following soon after. Perhaps the impact will be large enough to visually observe the flash and resulting dust plume.

The Adler will follow along on this mission and attempt to view the impact action live on - Friday, the 9th of October, at 6:00 am. Using our 20 inch reflecting telescope in the observatory, the scope will be fitted with a vid camera and image shown on a monitor that all may observe.

If you would like to attend this rare event, you must register...now.

adlerplanetarium.wufoo.com/forms/lcross-strikes-the-moon/

I'll be there and hope to see many of you Chicago Astronomers present to witness a possible great visual event.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

UPDATE:

The registration for the Adler LCROSS event is......SOLD OUT.

We got a full house, and I don't know if The Chicago Astronomer forum, Tweets, Facebook or emails had anything to do with it, but no more registrations are being accepted, nor walk-ins allowed.

Great on the interest in catching this quite cool event on another world and hope we can catch this visually.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Watch the Impact Live on NASA TV

For those interested individuals who missed out on registering for the Adler Live event on the LCROSS event...you can still watch it live from the comfort of your homes and pajamas..

www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

I would tune in at 6:00 am to keep and secure your connection early.

The Centaur booster will make it's scheduled impact at 6:31:19 a.m. CDT and the LCROSS probe itself will follow at 6:35:45 a.m. CDT).