According to reports that surfaced April 6, 2014, NASA is going to command its LADEE orbiter to crash onto the surface of the moon.
Although there is no such problem with the probe that was launched from Wallops Island, Virginia on September 6, 2013 and settled into the lunar orbit about four weeks later, the mission of the craft were few and highly specific, which it has completed.
Hence with no more fuel onboard to sustain in the orbit, engineers at NASA will bid farewell to the craft by commanding it to crash on the far side of the moon.
The craft’s mission was to test a broadband communications system between the Earth and the moon, analyze the thin atmosphere of the moon and find out reasons why moonwalkers of the Apollo mission saw strange pre-sunrise glow on the surface of the earth’s only natural satellite.
The craft completed all its missions in early March by ensuring high rate of data transmission, enough to watch Netflix on the moon, and finding out that the moon is engulfed in a dust that is continuously replenished by the impact of micrometeorites on its surface.
These developments will help NASA develop future probes that could stream high definition video from the surface of moon back onto Earth.
Although the mission is claimed to be a success, the engineers were still not able to determine the reason why Apollo astronauts saw strange flow on the lunar surface.
According to theories, sunlight might give a little positive charge to the glassy moon soil causing these particles to go upwards, however, the lunar gravity continues to pull it back again, creating fountains of electrostatic dust that would reflect light and cause strange glows at twilight.
The mission managers of LADEE will send signals to the probe to turn off all its scientific instruments on April 11, 2014 and set the craft on a collision course with moon.
However, since the gravity on the lunar surface is highly unpredictable, no one knows for sure, where or when the craft will actually crash land. NASA is also holding a contest to guess the precise spot where the craft will hit.
The one thing they are sure about is that the resulting crater that will be formed from the impact will away from historic sites, such as the Apollo landing sites, and it will be visible from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.