In an October , the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS, slammed into the moon in an attempt to kick up what scientists believe is water ice hiding in the bottom of a permanently dark crater. Scientists have been hoping that if a human outpost is created on the moon, people there could have access to water there instead of having to haul it up from Earth.

Plans to return to the moon have been in question since the Obama administration last May called for an independent 's human space flight activities.

The Orlando Sentinel also reported yesterday that the White House budget plan appears to boost NASA's budget by some $5.9 billion over the next five years.

Some of that money, according to the report, would be to keep the International Space Station running. The rest would go to set up contracts with private companies to act as a sort of shuttle service, taking astronauts back and forth from the space station after NASA's space shuttle fleet is retired.

Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld . Follow Sharon on Twitter at @sgaudin , send e-mail to sgaudin@computerworld.com or subscribe to Sharon's RSS feed .