NASA: Moon bombing provides 'the data we need'

"We didn't see a thing. We didn't see any obvious sign of an impact," said Vilas. "In choosing this crater for impact, the spacecraft went 2 kilometers deep so a lot of the plume would have been shielded from view by crater walls."

S. Pete Worden, center director at NASA's Ames Research Center, said it had been an exciting morning. "LCROSS showed that low-cost, innovative missions can excite the public and do good science," he added. "It expands and continues our exploration into the solar system."

The LCROSS spacecraft, which blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on June 18, went aloft with its companion satellite, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. As the Atlas V rocket that carried them lifted off, a NASA spokesman called it "NASA's first step in a lasting return to the moon."

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been in orbit around the moon since late June, was 50 kilometers above the moon's surface during this morning's impact. The orbiter is expected to send its own analysis of the debris plume back this morning.

The LCROSS spacecraft, aside from being a projectile, was a vehicle heavily loaded with scientific gear. According to NASA, its payload consisted of two near-infrared spectrometers, a visible light spectrometer, two mid-infrared cameras, two near-infrared cameras, a visible camera and a visible radiometer. The instruments were selected to provide mission scientists with multiple views of the debris created by the hull's initial impact.