Nasa images reveal final resting places of twin spacecraft which crashed onto surface of the moon
- Crash sites of twin spacecraft Ebb and Flow located
- NASA releases before-and-after pictures of site
- Craters and small dots mark the impact sites of moon probes
These fascinating images show the final resting places of two moon probes which crashed onto the moon.
An eagle-eyed NASA spacecraft managed to locate the crash sites of the twin spacecraft Ebb and Flow and took these images of their final resting spots.
Yesterday, the space agency released the before-and-after pictures of the lunar north pole where Ebb and Flow came to rest.
Crash site: These NASA images show the crash site before, left, and after, right, where one moon probe crashed onto the surface of the moon. Small craters and dots mark the site
The images show small craters and dots which mark the impact sites.
The spacecraft broke into smithereens upon impact and pinpointing the small craters they carved was difficult, said Arizona State University researcher Mark Robinson, who operates the camera of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Even the mission's chief scientist, Maria Zuber, was surprised when she saw the images of the impact sites which looked like dots.
'I was expecting to see skid tracks,' said Zuber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Ebb and Flow deliberately plunged into a lunar mountain in December after mapping the moon's gravity field in unprecedented detail. The location was chosen because it was far away from the Apollo landings and other historic sites.
Damage: These before, left, and after, right, images show the crash site of the second moon probe. These images were taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
Since the finale occurred in the dark, telescopes from Earth did not capture it. Even the reconnaissance orbiter had to wait until sunlight streamed to the northern lunar region.
Launched in 2011, the spacecraft spent nearly a year flying in formation, exclusively collecting gravitational data. Among the discoveries: The lunar crust is much thinner and more battered than scientists had imagined.
Initially flying at 35 miles above the lunar surface, the spacecraft dipped lower and lower in altitude during the $487 million mission.
Resting places: This topographic map shows the two impact areas of the twin spacecraft Ebb and Flow. It deliberately crashed into the surface of the moon last year
Scientists are still pouring through the last chunk of data beamed back just before their demise.
The Ebb and Flow crash sites were named in honour of mission team member, Sally Ride, the first American woman in space who died last year.
Ride's educational company supplied the cameras on the mission that allowed students to take their own pictures of craters and other geological features.