Analysis of “The Moon: Cold, Wet, and Breathing.” DiscoveryMagazine.com's "Top 100 Stories of 2009 #16: The Moon: Cold, Wet, and Breathing" article discusses the 2009 LCROSS mission. This is a lunar mission conducted to search for water (Barone 2009) . The mission is an important part of the ultimate goal of visiting the Moon and establishing a lunar base (NASA 2005). The article is written to expand on what happened during the LCROSS mission (Barone 2009). LCROSS stands for Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Spacecraft. The mission was designed to search for water on the surface of the Moon. Water on the Moon has long been theorized, but previous lunar missions have found none (Lutgens 2008). The plan is to eventually have another manned mission to the Moon and establish a base, but without water a lunar base cannot be maintained (NASA 2005). The surface of the moon exposed to the sun is known to contain no water as the sun breaks it down and evaporates it as hydrogen and oxygen (NASA 2005). Due to the Moon's unique orbit, there are craters on the Moon that are never exposed to the sun. These are potential sites for water as they are not exposed to the sun and probably have not been for billions of years (Barone 2009). This is the first step in scientific methodology (Lutgens 2008). NASA used the experience to form conjectures and make a prediction. In proper form, NASA approached a single problem in a way that eliminated the possibility of external variables influencing the results. So they predicted that there was water in these craters and so they had to devise a test to try to locate that water. NASA needed a cheap and effective way to take samples from the… center of the paper… It also contained many other materials that would be useful in the event of a moon base and contained what are called volatiles. These are things that are in a gaseous state at room temperature, such as methane, hydrogen gas, and carbon dioxide. In the depths of a crater that never sees daylight, the temperature reaches -400⁰F and these are in a solid state (Barone 2009). Analysis of material showing water gives hope that a sustainable lunar base could potentially be built on the Moon. Research that could be conducted in long-term studies while actually on the Moon's surface could advance knowledge of the extraterrestrial body exponentially, as well as the field of low-gravity research. This article describes research on a topic that has proven to be an important step in a direction that could one day allow humanity to live on the Moon.