Two NASA satellites set to crash on Moon’s dark side

New York Times : On Monday two NASA satellites, each about the size of a washing machine, are scheduled to crash into the Moon. Launched in September 2011, Ebb and Flowâmdash;part of the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory missionâmdash;have been orbiting the Moon since the beginning of this year. Monitoring the Moon’s gravitational field, the two satellites have been moving into successively lower orbits in order to make the most precise measurements possible. But the lower the altitude, the more fuel is burned, and they are running out of gas. Rather than allow them to strike a historically important site on the lunar surface, such as Neil Armstrong’s footprints, NASA decided to orchestrate the crash so that the two collide with a mountain on the Moon’s dark side. Even their destruction will further scientific study, however, as another NASA spacecraft, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, will then pass over the site to study the gouges created by Ebb and Flow.