Mon.: 2 NASA Lunar Orbiters to Crash into Moon

NASA Probes Prepare for Mission-Ending Moon Impact

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Last Flight for GRAIL's Twin Spacecraft

This still image and animation shows the final flight path for NASA's twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission spacecraft, which will impact the moon on Dec. 17, 2012, around 2:28 p.m. PST. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSFC/ASU
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December 13, 2012

PASADENA, Calif. -- Twin lunar-orbiting NASA spacecraft that have allowed scientists to learn more about the internal structure and composition of the moon are being prepared for their controlled descent and impact on a mountain near the moon's north pole at about 2:28 p.m. PST (5:28 p.m. EST) Monday, Dec. 17.

Ebb and Flow, the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission probes, are being sent purposely into the lunar surface because their low orbit and low fuel levels preclude further scientific operations. The duo's successful prime and extended science missions generated the highest-resolution gravity field map of any celestial body. The map will provide a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed and evolved.

More - Link >>> http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2012-396&cid=release_2012-396

Sources: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA.

Related Blog Posts --

Lunar Impact Site Named After Sally Ride (2012 Dec. 18):

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2012/12/lunar-impact-site-named-after-sally-ride.html

2 NASA Probes' Moon Crash Today (2012 Dec. 17):

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2012/12/2-nasa-probes-moon-crash-today.html

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