Streaking through vacuum at a mile per second just above the cratered surface of the moon, two washing machine-size science probes that have completed their mission to map the lunar gravity field will slam into a mile-high mountainside Monday, bringing a successful $500 million mission to a kamikaze conclusion.
The twin probes, named Ebb and Flow in a student naming contest, have been flying in formation at extremely low altitude since January 1, 2012, mapping subtle changes in the moon's gravitational pull to gain insights into its internal structure.
With all of the mission's scientific objectives accomplished, the trajectories of both 440-pound satellites were fine tuned Friday to set up twin impacts on a rugged cliff near the moon's north pole that is part of the rim of a buried crater.
NASA's twin GRAIL spacecraft will crash into a mile-high cliff near the lunar north pole Monday to close out a successful mission to map the moon's gravity field with unprecedented precision.
(Credit: NASA)
Ebb is expected to hit the mountain at 5:28 p.m. EST (GMT-5) Monday. Flow will follow suit about 30 seconds later, crashing some 25 miles away from its twin. And with that, the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory -- GRAIL -- mission will come to an abrupt end.
"We are not expecting a big flash or a big explosion" Maria Zuber, GRAIL principal investigator at the Massachu... [Read more]
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