The moon is about to get a new crater, courtesy of the lunar orbiter SMART-1, which is due to crash-land on Sunday.
Controllers at the European Space Agency used the spacecraft’s last fuel to aim it at the near side of the moon. The crash should happen at about 0530 GMT on a plain called the Lake of Excellence, but it might occur one orbit (about 5 hours) earlier if the low-flying spacecraft happens to meet an unmapped mountainside.
SMART-1 will hit the ground at about 7000 kilometres per hour. “It’s likely to ricochet off the surface,” said chief mission…
