NASA Spacecraft Set to Crash Into Moon
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NASA/JPL-Caltech/MIT(PASADENA, Calif.) — After almost a year of orbiting the moon, two NASA spacecraft will end their successful mission by intentionally crashing into the lunar surface Monday.
NASA is deliberately crashing Ebb and Flow because the twin orbiters are running out of fuel and their orbit is so low they can’t conduct much science anyway.
Ebb will be the first to plummet down to the surface; Flow will follow seconds later. They’ll meet their end near the moon’s North Pole.
The twin Grail probes generated high resolution mapping of the Moon since they began their orbits on Jan. 1, 2012. They are set to hit the moon’s surface Monday afternoon at a speed of more than 3,700 miles per hour.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio