The Japanese lunar space probe Kaguya was maneuvered to an uncontrolled crash landing on the surface of the Moon near the South Pole around 80.4 degrees east longitude and 65.5 degrees south latitude at 2:35 PM EST today to complete the spacecraft's final scientific endeavor, according to the Japanese JAXA space agency.Kaguya hit the Moon at an oblique angle traveling approximately 6,000 km/hr. Clues to the end of Kaguya will come from high-res images of the crash site taken by future lunar orbiters. No photographs of the crash flash have been reported by Earth-bound astrononers this evening.
The impact site selection was not accidental. The Japanese space agency has long planned to end the mission with a controlled crash in the southern region of the lunar surface. Kaguya has been in lunar orbit since Oct. 2007; it has searched dark craters for evidence of frozen water, mapped the moon's gravitational field, and taken some of the all-time prettiest pictures of Earth's satellite.
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