In Which We Are Greatly Pleased

Comes now the news: the LCROSS probe has found

Some water where we'd long hoped it would be.

In Crater Cabeus on Luna, 'round

The Moon's south pole. This means a lot to me

For reasons that soon all will understand

(Though it means some slight rewrites must be done!)!

To have a source of water near at hand

Bodes well for future colonization

And making of the Moon a right foothold

For future space development. This here

Is just the kind of news that cheers my old

And sci-fi loving heart. I hold too dear

The hope that someday mankind will explore

And learn about the universe next door.

BONUS BONUS SONNET: In Which Mary And I Claim Credit For The Weather Clearing For The Big Launch

The weather threatened to delay our launch

Of LRO and L-CROSS to the moon.

A lightning storm would violate the staunch

Rulebook regarding really just how soon

We can ignite the rocket, fire it off.

So my fair tweep, Mactavish, yea, and I,

Though skeptics to the bone and prone to scoff

At magic thinking, sucked it up to try

Propitiating the great mad god Thor.

A sacrificial goat would be the best,

But hard to come by. She and I, therefore,

Winos for NASA, put this to the test:

A sweet, sweet wine tastes almost quite like mead

Could pouring some for Thor help us succeed?

In Which I Geek Out On Yet Another NASA Mission - To The Moon!

I'm sad Endeavor's now not going to fly

Until next month, but consolation's had:

An Atlas 5 will streak into the sky

This time tomorrow, leave from the launch pad

With two unmanned craft, destination Moon!

The L-R-O will write the Baedeker,

While LCROSS seeks for water and, real soon,

Will land upon the Lunar South Pole, her

Objective to seek out some water ice

That we've long thought a crater there might hold,

Safe from the sun and enough to suffice

For starting a manned base there in the cold

And hostile, airless world that's Luna. I'll

Watch with eagerness, a Lunaphile!