NASA Apps Update
The apps.nasa.gov website is currently inactive, though it will be re-launched in the future as the Nebula platform continues to develop. Here is an excerpt from the site that describes its future functionality:
NASA Apps is a directory of all NASA projects built on the NASA Nebula cloud-computing platform. It is *the* place to get a close-up view of the extraordinary work that NASA is doing. You'll find images, raw data, and other resources from current and past NASA projects and missions - all easily accessible and highly searchable. If you're a developer, you can use APIs and open source modules available as part of the Nebula platform to build interactive content showcasing the science and discoveries made by NASA. Keep up with the latest advances in aeronautics and space science at NASA Apps.
LCROSS Citizen Science
Additionally, the LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) Citizen Science site has been taken offline. This site enabled amateur astronomers from around the world to submit, describe, and comment on photographs and other media related to the LCROSS mission. In this, the site furthered NASA's Participatory Exploration objectives and served as a test bed for the Nebula platform.
The LCROSS mission objectives included confirming the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater in the Moon's polar regions. The identification of water sources is very important to the future of human activities on the Moon.
For more information on LCROSS, please see: http://www.nasa.gov/lcross.
For more information on the Nebula Platform, please see: http://nebula.nasa.gov.
The following is a sample of the content that was available on the LCROSS-CS website:
Public Observation Campaign
The Mission Objectives of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) include confirming the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater in the Moon's polar regions. The identification of water is very important to the future of human activities on the Moon. LCROSS will excavate the permanently dark floor of one of the Moon's polar craters with two heavy impactors in 2009 to test the theory that ancient ice lies buried there. The impact will eject material from the crater's surface and subsurface to create a plume that specialized instruments will be able to analyze for the presence of water (ice and vapor), hydrocarbons and hydrated materials.
Mission scientists estimate that the Centaur impact plume may be visible through amateur-class telescopes with apertures as small as 10 to 12 inches. As the mission progresses, this site will provide the general public, classrooms, and the amateur astronomy community details on how to observe the impact. The LCROSS mission will actively solicit images of the impact from the public. These images will provide a valuable addition to the archive of data chronicling the impact and its aftermath. This site will include a gallery of images received from both the public and professional communities.
How Can I Participate?
The LCROSS mission provides a rare and unique opportunity for the amateur community to contribute directly to the science of a NASA mission.
When the LCROSS Centaur upper stage impacts the south pole of the Moon on October 9, 2009 at approximately 4:30 a.m. PDT, the ejecta plume may be observable in 10" and larger telescopes for a few minutes after impact as the ejecta reaches sunlight above the target crater. Amateur astronomers that can take high-resolution images, video, spectra, etc. of the Moon will be able to contribute to the LCROSS mission.