The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft orbits the moon in this artist's rendering.AP\/NASA <\/p>\n
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. NASA's robotic moon explorer, LADEE, is no more. <\/p>\n
Flight controllers confirmed Friday that the orbiting spacecraft crashed into the back side of the moon as planned, just three days after surviving a full lunar eclipse, something it was never designed to do. <\/p>\n
Researchers believe LADEE likely vaporized when it hit because of its extreme orbiting speed of 3,600 mph, possibly smacking into a mountain or side of a crater. No debris would have been left behind. <\/p>\n
\"It's bound to make a dent,\" project scientist Rick Elphic predicted Thursday. <\/p>\n
By Thursday evening, the spacecraft had been skimming the lunar surface at an incredibly low altitude of 300 feet. Its orbit had been lowered on purpose last week to ensure a crash by Monday following an extraordinarily successful science mission. <\/p>\n
LADEE short for Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer was launched in September from Virginia. From the outset, NASA planned to crash the spacecraft into the back side of the moon, far from the Apollo artifacts left behind during the moonwalking days of 1969 to 1972. <\/p>\n
It completed its primary 100-day science mission last month and was on overtime. The extension had LADEE flying during Tuesday morning's lunar eclipse; its instruments were not designed to endure such prolonged darkness and cold. <\/p>\n
But the small spacecraft survived it's about the size of a vending machine with just a couple pressure sensors acting up. <\/p>\n
The mood in the control center at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., was upbeat late Thursday afternoon, according to project manager Butler Hine. <\/p>\n
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LADEE, NASA's moon-orbiting robot, crashes down as planned<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft orbits the moon in this artist's rendering.AP\/NASA CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. NASA's robotic moon explorer, LADEE, is no more. Continue reading