CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s small moon-orbiting spacecraft LADEE is no more. Flight controllers confirmed early Friday that LADEE crashed into the back side of the moon.
Researchers believe the robotic explorer vaporized upon contact because of its high orbiting speed of 3,600 mph, possibly smacking into a mountain or side of a crater. As of late Thursday afternoon, the spacecraft was flying 300 feet above the lunar surface. Its altitude had been lowered on purpose to ensure a crash by Monday.
Additional Photos
In this artist’s concept provided by NASA the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer – LADEE – spacecraft is seen orbiting the moon . The Associated Press / NASA, Dana Berry
LADEE – short for Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer — was launched in September. It completed its main science mission last month and was on overtime.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Related Stories
Latest Articles
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.