LCROSS almost missed the target

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter recorded temperatures at the Cabeus crash site, shown here about 90 seconds after impact. 

The impact generated temperatures over 1340 degrees Fahrenheit (727 degrees Celsius), which appear as a tiny glowing dot near the center of the color swath. Credit: NASA/UCLA.

The existence of ice on the moon was revealed with a bang last year, when kamikaze spacecraft crashed into a crater at the lunar south pole, kicking up enough water for researchers to finally detect.

Today scientists in six separate studies announced new findings from the Oct. 9, 2009 LCROSS moon crash mission. They found, among other discoveries, substantial amounts of water ice at ground zero for the impact — water that could one day be key to the humanity's future in space.

But as successful as the mission proved in the end, the complicated affair was fraught with uncertainty and came perilously close to failure. Now scientists reveal the story of how they made their discovery and what challenges they faced along the way. [10 Coolest New Moon Discoveries]