15 replies to this topic

[Saru]

The twin lunar orbiters Ebb and Flow are being prepared for their final descent on Monday.

NASA said:

Twin lunar-orbiting NASA spacecraft that have allowed scientists to learn more about the internal structure and composition of the moon are being prepared for their controlled descent and impact on a mountain near the moon's north pole at about 2:28 p. m. PST (5:28 p. m. EST) Monday, Dec. 17.

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[sergeantflynn]

Aye , go for it NASA . Dark side of the Moon`s okay . Out of sight , out of mind . Why change the habit of a lifetime ?

[flyingswan]

sergeantflynn, on 14 December 2012 - 05:56 PM, said:

Aye , go for it NASA . Dark side of the Moon`s okay . Out of sight , out of mind . Why change the habit of a lifetime ?

What makes you think the impact target on the dark side of the moon is out of sight?

[sergeantflynn]

flyingswan, on 14 December 2012 - 06:10 PM, said:

What makes you think the impact target on the dark side of the moon is out of sight?

Cheers . Well spotted young man . It fitted into my comment to show my admiration for NASA .  Kind Regards .

[kwin]

"a collision course which will see them smashing in to a lunar mountain, however no images of the event will be captured due to the region being in shadow at the time of impact" .........more classic NASA.............

[Waspie_Dwarf]

kwin, on 14 December 2012 - 07:19 PM, said:

more classic NASA.............

Indeed it is classic NASA, if classic NASA is removing two spacecraft from Lunar orbit before they become uncontrollable and a potential threat to future missions.

It's classic NASA that, even in the final moments of these spacecraft, information will be gleaned which could help future spacecraft:

Quote

"Our lunar twins may be in the twilight of their operational lives, but one thing is for sure, they are going down swinging," said GRAIL project manager David Lehman of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "Even during the last half of their last orbit, we are going to do an engineering experiment that could help future missions operate more efficiently."

Because the exact amount of fuel remaining aboard each spacecraft is unknown, mission navigators and engineers designed the depletion burn to allow the probes to descend gradually for several hours and skim the surface of the moon until the elevated terrain of the target mountain gets in their way.

It is absolutely classic NASA, it's just a shame that some people are unable to understand just how excellent "classic NASA" really is.

[GirlfromOz]

Nasa will send another mission to the moon.Funding is important.If no funding results,then NASA will issue another message of imminent disaster to the world.All the more, issuance of another disaster results in the world banding together to reply in another request for humanitarian research.Get it?

[Sundew]

"Twin lunar-orbiting NASA spacecraft ... are being prepared for their ... impact on a mountain near the moon's north pole at about 2:28 p. m. PST (5:28 p. m. EST) Monday, Dec. 17."

Blindfold and cigarette?

[Hazzard]

I just wish we could see the impact,... up close I mean.

[R4z3rsPar4d0x]

These things must be very well built if they can collide with a mountain at that speed and not totally ruin themselves

[AsteroidX]

space litter. real cool

[Waspie_Dwarf]

R4z3rsPar4d0x, on 18 December 2012 - 08:33 PM, said:

These things must be very well built if they can collide with a mountain at that speed and not totally ruin themselves

They were totally destroyed in the impact, which was the point.

They were deliberately crashed into a mountain to prevent them causing any problem for future exploration or causing damage to an historic site such as one of the Apollo landing sites.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

AsteroidX, on 18 December 2012 - 08:36 PM, said:

space litter. real cool

Again, totally missing the point. They would have been space litter if they hadn't been crashed in this way.

[AsteroidX]

No. Turning them into space litter is bad planning. Now theres a few thousand pieces of spacecraft littered all over the moon. If they couldnt itleast land them for future retreival then they should have planned to reenter and have them burn up here.

If were gonna take of other planets/moons like we take care of our own planet then we should stop going out there and just watch through the telescope.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

AsteroidX, on 18 December 2012 - 08:44 PM, said:

No. Turning them into space litter is bad planning. Now theres a few thousand pieces of spacecraft littered all over the moon. If they couldnt itleast land them for future retreival then they should have planned to reenter and have them burn up here.

If were gonna take of other planets/moons like we take care of our own planet then we should stop going out there and just watch through the telescope.

Firstly they were not designed to land. You no more design an orbiter to land than you design an aircraft to operate underwater.

Secondly if they had to carry enough fuel to leave lunar orbit and return to earth for a re-entry they would have had to be massively larger and require a larger, more expensive launch vehicle. This mission, done your way, would have been prohibitively expensive, it would never have got off the ground.

Lastly, there is going to be very little, if anything, left of a spacecraft if you smash it into a mountain at close to 4,000mph.

This is the sensible and logical way of deposing of them, your suggestions are not.