Instead of water vapor gently wafting above the lunar limb, we might see ionized, hot plasma. It's possible that we would also get some warm water vapor that didn't sustain such a damaging shock wave, but it's really hard to say. We haven't done the high speed simulations yet. Goldstein says that he and his colleagues may not have time to organize a search for signs of water kicked up by Leonids this year, following so closely on the heels of the Lunar Prospector experiment. However, with some experts predicting significant Leonid activity into the next millennium , there will be time to arrange an observing campaign for next year and beyond.
Neutrons are subatomic particles that are continually ejected from the lunar soil by cosmic rays.
Scientists hoped that by crashing the spacecraft into a shadowed crater they would be able to find direct evidence of water-ice. More information about lunar water . Experts make their predictions. Aug 13, 1999. Aug 6, 1999.