homehome Home chatchat Notifications


Watch footage from the last NASA spacecraft to crash on the moon [VIDEO]

At the end of last year, NASA permanently decommissioned the spacecrafts Ebb and Flow after engineers intentionally crashed them on the moon’s surface. Now, the space agency has released video footage from the last moments of spacecraft Ebb just before it hit, which can watch just below. Prepare for some goosebumps. The two spacecraft were part of a mission known as GRAIL, tasked […]

Tibi Puiu
January 15, 2013 @ 11:07 am

share Share

Ebb and Flow chased each other around the moon for nearly a year, peering into the interior. With dwindling fuel supplies, the twin NASA spacecraft are ready for a dramatic finish.  Photographer: NASA

Ebb and Flow chased each other around the moon for nearly a year, peering into the interior. With dwindling fuel supplies, the twin NASA spacecraft are ready for a dramatic finish.
Photographer: NASA

At the end of last year, NASA permanently decommissioned the spacecrafts Ebb and Flow after engineers intentionally crashed them on the moon’s surface. Now, the space agency has released video footage from the last moments of spacecraft Ebb just before it hit, which can watch just below. Prepare for some goosebumps.

The two spacecraft were part of a mission known as GRAIL, tasked with mapping the moon’s gravity. The  $496m Grail mision launched in September 2011, and its two craft Ebb and Flow were placed in orbit three months later, and since then they’ve well made up for their money’s worth. Besides the actual gravity mapping that’s extremely important to scientists trying to understand how it formed, the Grail mission help better our understanding of the moon’s interior, found evidence of water in the moon’s craters, and captured the first photos from the dark side of the moon.

The final moments of Ebb have been documented in two separate instances, filmed with the  Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle school students camera (or MoonKam), in honor of the fact that a student picked what the camera should film. It took 2,400 frames to make the two-minute video, which runs at six times normal speed and which captures the moon’s surface in extraordinary high detail. You might find yourself thinking this is a sort of video game or something, but make no mistake that’s the moon, my friends! NASA announced that the crash site would be named after the late Sally Ride, America’s first woman in space.



share Share

How Hot is the Moon? A New NASA Mission is About to Find Out

Understanding how heat moves through the lunar regolith can help scientists understand how the Moon's interior formed.

Should we treat Mars as a space archaeology museum? This researcher believes so

Mars isn’t just a cold, barren rock. Anthropologists argue that the tracks of rovers and broken probes are archaeological treasures.

Proba-3: The Budget Mission That Creates Solar Eclipses on Demand

Now scientists won't have to travel from one place to another to observe solar eclipses. They can create their own eclipses lasting for hours.

This Supermassive Black Hole Shot Out a Jet of Energy Unlike Anything We've Seen Before

A gamma-ray flare from a black hole 6.5 billion times the Sun’s mass leaves scientists stunned.

Astronauts will be making sake on the ISS — and a cosmic bottle will cost $650,000

Astronauts aboard the ISS are brewing more than just discoveries — they’re testing how sake ferments in space.

Superflares on Sun-Like Stars Are Much More Common Than We Thought

Sun-like stars release massive quantities of radiation into space more often than previously believed.

Astronomers Just Found Stars That Mimic Pulsars -- And This May Explain Mysterious Radio Pulses in Space

A white dwarf/M dwarf binary could be the secret.

These Satellites Are About to Create Artificial Solar Eclipses — And Unlock the Sun's Secrets

Two spacecraft will create artificial eclipses to study the Sun’s corona.

Mars Dust Storms Can Engulf Entire Planet, Shutting Down Rovers and Endangering Astronauts — Now We Know Why

Warm days may ignite the Red Planet’s huge dust storms.

The Smallest Asteroids Ever Detected Could Be a Game-Changer for Planetary Defense

A new technique allowed scientists to spot the smallest asteroids ever detected in the main belt.