As part of its plans to send men back to the Moon (and more or less stay there for extended periods of time), one of NASA's first objectives is to add a new crater to the Moon. Yes, just like when ESA decided to deliberately turn SMART-1 into a permanent landmark on the lunar surface, its US counterpart will ram spent/unnecessary parts of its Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) onto the Moon, near one of its poles, reports SPACE.com. They never did say if it's North or South.

Why? They want to really find out if there is polar ice underneath all that moon rock. Having usable water already on the Moon cuts a lot of weight from any potential manned lunar mission. Not only does it provide water for the essential human needs, it can also provide badly needed hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel. The two planned impacts should eject material into space that can then be visually analyzed for presence of water. Beats waiting months to find signs of erosion on an otherworldy surface.

Not only will LCROSS be monitoring these impact tests (does give a whole new meaning to the term, don't it?), but NASA also plans to direct Earth-bound telescopes to observe the impact debris. They say it'll be big enough that even reasonable-grade amateur telescopes will see the event. Kim Possible says: "Slammin'."