Later tonight On September 3rd, the Europeans will make contact with the Moon. SMART-1, a lunar probe, has been gathering data on the Moon's surface for three years, and also testing an ion propulsion engine designed for interplanetary travel. The ESA called the mission successful, but the cool thing is going to be the crash. The landing spot is going to be in darkness and will be visible from the Americas at the moment of impact. If the debris cloud is more than 12 miles high, amateur astronomers will be able to see a bright spot as the cloud clears the horizon. I may just have to dust off the old reflector for that. If you want to see more on the impact, go here.
Update: The date of impact was corrected according to the ESA information. The AP report did not include the date, which led me to assume the impact was on August 30th.
What I'm surprised about, is that there are no environmental groups decrying the deliberate littering paid for by EU dues. For shame!
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