Into the depths of the moon

British and U.S. scientists said Friday that they were exploring plans for a joint lunar mission that would fire missile-like penetrators into the moon’s surface.

The Moon Lightweight Interior and Telecoms Experiment, or MoonLITE, would put a satellite into orbit around the moon. Three or four projectiles packed with scientific instruments would then be fired and embed just below the lunar surface, the British National Space Center and NASA said. MoonLITE could deliver important information about the moon’s structure, such as the size of the lunar core and the source of lunar seismic activity.