(December 17, 2012 at 5:14 pm)Minimalist Wrote:Quote:Also the crash is going to be on the dark side so there won't be anything to see...
Clever...that way if they miss no one will know.
The dark side or the far side? Collision on the dark (unlit) portion of the near side could still generate a visible flash, and if sufficiently close to the terminator between lit and unlit portion, send up a plume which could be visibly lit by the sun shinning over the lunar horizon, like a thunderhead on earth that can remain lit by the sun after the sun is seen to set from the ground.
Collision on the far side has less chance of being seen, unless it is sufficiently close to the limb of the moon for it plume to rise above lunar limb.
I imagine the choice of north pole for impact site is driven by the desire to test the theory that lunar soil there could harbor substantial ice deposits.
