Earlier this summer, a shuttle dubbed Atlas V took off for an unmanned journey to the moon, carrying with it a Lunar Robotic Satellite and a Spacecraft nicknamed LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite).

While the job of the former is to take pictures, the latter was programmed to scan the surface of the moon and locate a spot that may have water. Now three months later, LCROSS has identified the area and is scheduled to crash land on it on October 9th.

Meanwhile, instruments aboard three different spacecrafts has confirmed the presence of small amounts of Lunar Polar Water Ice deposits, making scientists even more excited about the upcoming Lunar impact.

However, here is a slight snag - Thanks to the steep incline of LCROSS's orbit, they can see the spacecraft for only 2-hr intervals every three days. The rest of the time they rely on radio signals to ensure that the spacecraft is on target.

In order to assure that they don't miss a beat, NASA has partnered with GAVRT (The Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope) and recruited thousands of school kids all over the world to help them out.

GAVRT is an initiative undertaken by the Lewis Center for Educational Research Project as an educational tool for K-12 students. It controls a 34-meter radio telescope that lies in California's Mojave Desert, that until recently was used for NASA's deep Space projects.

When NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) was considering decommissioning it, Rick Percy the founder of Lewis Learning, grabbed the opportunity to take control of it as a learning tool for students. Since then over 38,000 kids have 'controlled' the telescope, listening to radio signals from Space, as part of this project.

The opportunity to keep tabs on LCROSS is therefore the perfect way for students to help NASA with one of their most exciting projects ever. While 238 schools have already signed up, Lewis Learning has plenty of room for more. All you need is a computer, Internet access and a desire to do something exciting for science.

Interested? Go to www.lewislearning.org to learn more about the project and sign up. But hurry, because this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will be gone by October 9th, when LCROSS crashes into its targeted spot on the moon!

sources:NASA.gov, Lewislearning.org.