Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Little Spacecraft Falling Down, Go Boom

Kaguya Will Impact the Moon on June 10 | Universe Today
Kaguya Will Impact the Moon on June 10

The Japanese lunar orbiter Kaguya will end its two-year mission with a controlled impact on the Moon’s surface on June 10th at 18:30 Universal Time. The impact location is near the southeast limb at 80ºE, 63ºS. If you live in Asia and Australia, you may have the opportunity to observe the impact event, and the Japanese Space Agency –JAXA – wants to hear from you if you plan on watching for the impact. The event may be visible with a bright flash or plume.
Those of us in the in the northern hemisphere won't get to see this event, but it will likely be tracked and filmed by multiple agencies.

It's not often there's an opportunity to witness such an event, but I do kind of feel like this is our way of dumping trash on the moon. Isn't dumping it down here bad enough?

As we continue to explore the realms of space, moving away from our own planet, we should be making sure we don't abuse the resources of other terrestrial bodies. Yeah, that's a bit melodramatic, but we've done such a great job of fouling things up down here that we really shouldn't be exporting it.