I was there this morning, but didn't camp out - I arrived about 4:00 a.m.

While the lack of a spectacular impact was a bit of a disappointment, it was still exciting to be out there with so many to witness science in action. The smaller than expected plume was said might be one possible outcome if the area hit was more rocks than dust.

Also, Nasa acknowledged early on that they had a choice of going with 1 expensive mission or 3 more economical ones, which is what they chose, with the understanding that there were greater risks with each individual one. The whole project took just 28 months! Pretty amazing. They managed this by not reinventing everything. They used many existing designs and off the shelf products ruggedized for use in space.

I can't wait to see the next attempt!

That was a fantastic experience.

At the beginning of the program it was wild to see the Moffett Base dirigible pass behind the large drive-in style video screen that was set up on the lawn showing space images of the LCROSS mission.

Other highlights included the in-person appearance by Apollo 16 astronaut Charles Duke, narrating a video about his experiences walking on the moon in an earlier NASA mission. Very inspiring.

Also, Bella Gaia's "poetic vision of Earth from space" video, which can be seen from their website, was very moving.

And, of course, watching the LCROSS module speed towards the lunar surface in real time was fascinating. All the while, members of the LCROSS team were explaining details of the mission.

Thanks, NASA, for including the public in this event. It was a real treat!