NASA has selected a final destination for its Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, after a journey of nearly 5.6 million miles (8.96 million km) that included several orbits around Earth and the moon, the U.S. space agency said Friday.

The mission team announced that Cabeus A will be the target crater for LCROSS dual impacts scheduled for 7:30 a.m. EDT (1130 GMT) on Oct. 9. The crater was selected after an extensive review as the optimal location for LCROSS' evaluation of whether water ice exists at the lunar south pole.

LCROSS will search for water ice by sending its spent upper-stage Centaur rocket to impact the permanently shadowed polar crater. The satellite will fly into the plume of dust left by the impact and measure the properties before also colliding with the lunar surface. The LCROSS team selected Cabeus A based on a set of conditions that include proper debris plume illumination for visibility from Earth, a high concentration of hydrogen, and mature crater features such as a flat floor, gentle slopes and the absence of large boulders.

"The selection of Cabeus A was a result of a vigorous debate within the lunar science community that included review of the latest data from Earth-based observatories and our fellow lunar missions Kaguya, Chandrayaan-1, and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter," said Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS project scientist and principle investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.

"The team is looking forward to the impacts and the wealth of information this unique mission will produce," he added.

LCROSS and LRO, another NASA lunar spacecraft, lifted off on June 18 on a landmark mission to scout water sources and landing sites in anticipation of leading astronauts back to the moon in 2020.

Source: Xinhua