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Article: Divining water. (the unmanned US spacecraft Lunar Prospector will orbit the moon for one year and look for signs of water)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- January 10, 1998
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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RECENTLY, the trendiest places for man-made satellites to see and be seen have been Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The moon has been pass@e since 1976, when the Americans and Russians tired of their race to prance upon its surface. The only subsequent lunar mission of note was Clementine, an American satellite sent moonwards in 1994 to test some military sensors. But Clementine made a tentative discovery that, if confirmed, could once again make the moon the most fashionable place in the solar system. That discovery was water.
Lunar Prospector, an unmanned American craft launched on January 6th after many delays, should reach the moon on January 11th; with luck it will ...