NASA successfully crashed two unmanned spacecraft into the surface of the Moon in a bid to find evidence of water.

NASA is filtering through the preliminary data collected after two unmanned spacecraft intentionally crashed into the Moon in an attempt to verify the existence of water ice.

Scientists at the space agency are sifting through the information collected by the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) after a rocket stage and spacecraft created twin impacts on the Moon’s surface on Friday (9 October).

LCROSS is collecting data from the debris caused by the collisions, in which scientists hope to find evidence of water ice.

The satellite has travelled 5.6 million miles during the 113-day mission, costing $79 million (£49m), which ended in the Cabeus crater on the Moon’s south pole.

Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS principal investigator and project scientist, said: “The LCROSS science instruments worked exceedingly well and returned a wealth of data that will greatly improve our understanding of our closest celestial neighbour.”

No definitive answers have yet been given as to the question of water on the Moon. NASA predicts that the data will require several weeks of analysis before scientists will be able to determine whether there is evidence of water.

Jennifer Heldmann of the NASA Ames Research Center in California said that one of the aims of the LCROSS mission was to get as many people as possible to observe the event, including amateur astronomers. She said: “One of the early goals of the missions was to get as many people to look at the LCROSS impacts in as many ways possible, and we succeeded.

“The amount of corroborated information that can be pulled out of this one event is fascinating.”

For more information about the LCROSS mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/lcross