Probe crashes into moon

[n2doc]

Probe crashes into Moon's surface


Scientists hope to view the rock beneath the moon's surface

Mission update
Europe's lunar satellite, the Smart 1 probe, has ended its mission by crashing onto the Moon's surface in a controlled collision.
It was a spectacular end for the robotic probe, which has spent the last 16 months testing innovative and miniaturised space technologies.

Smart 1 has also produced detailed maps of the Moon's chemical make-up, to help refine theories about its birth.

At 0542 GMT (0642 BST), the probe thumped into a volcanic plain.

With an impact speed of about 7,200km/h (4,500mph), even at a glancing blow of just one degree to the surface, the probe met a sufficiently violent end for telescopes to observe the event from Earth.

Smart 1 was returning pictures as it plunged towards the Moon's Lake of Excellence. Controllers and scientists at the European Space Agency's (Esa) operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany, clapped and cheered after the spacecraft smacked into the surface.


Astronomers in Hawaii observed a flash as Smart 1 crashed
"As planned, Smart 1 has landed," said Professor Bernard Foing, the mission's project scientist from Esa.

The Canada France Hawaii Telescope on Mauna Kea, in Hawaii, captured an infrared picture of a bright flash as Smart 1 hit its target.

"I was really surprised as the flash was very impressive. I was betting on not seeing much," said Gerhard Schwehm, mission manager for Smart 1.

The hope now is that the impact will have kicked up a big enough plume of fresh lunar "soil" for scientists to study its composition using ground telescopes.

The impact was expected to leave a 3m by 10m (10ft by 30ft) crater on the Moon, spreading debris over 80 sq km (30 sq miles).
more
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5309656.stm

[Kali]

1. Geeks playing video games.

Remote control toys are always fun to crash. heh heh

[Ready4Change]

2. "Moon honks horn, flips the bird, yells obscenties."

Just another day on the cosmic highway.

:)

[Nihil]

3. I must be getting old ...

... I remember the time when scientists used to work hard to
LAND probes on things rather than just smash their toys into
the nearest hard object until something broke ...

:-)