I thought the "manned mission to the moon" program was going to be a budget casualty next year. isn't this a waste of money?
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this is a neat enough story, but basically I was just tired of the S&T forum being empty. 
NASA launches unmanned moon shot, first in decadeCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA has launched its first moon shot in a decade. An unmanned rocket blasted off Thursday from Cape Canaveral, carrying a pair of science probes that will scout out potential landing spots for astronauts. It's a first step in NASA's effort to return humans to the moon by 2020.
One probe will orbit the moon and provide a 3-D relief map of the lunar surface. The other satellite will drop its spent upper-stage rocket into a shadowed crater at the moon's south pole. This satellite will measure the matter that's kicked up, send the data to Earth, then also crash into the surface. The goal is to determine if frozen water is present.
The launch occurred one month shy of the 40th anniversary of the first lunar footprints.
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The robotic moon probes will hunt for hidden ice. The mission will cost $583 million.
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