The Latest: Tagged 'flow'

Ebb and Flow's final resting place on the moon has been named for America's first woman in space, Sally Ride, NASA/JPL announced Monday.

The formation-flying duo hit the lunar surface as planned at 2:28:51 p.m. PST (5:28:51 p.m. EST) and 2:29:21 p.m. PST (5:29:21 p.m. EST) at a speed of 3,760 mph (1.7 kilometers per second). The location of the Sally K. Ride Impact Site is on the southern face of an approximately 1.5-mile-tall (2.5-kilometer) mountain near a crater named Goldschmidt.

"Sally was all about getting the job done, whether it be in exploring space, inspiring the next generation, or helping make the GRAIL mission the resounding success it is today," said GRAIL principal investigator Maria Zuber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. "As we complete our lunar mission, we are proud we can honor Sally Ride's contributions by naming this corner of the moon after her."

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MIT/GSFC

This image shows the variations in the lunar gravity field as measured by NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) during the primary mapping mission from March to May 2012. Very precise microwave measurements between two spacecraft, named Ebb and Flow, were used to map gravity with high precision and high spatial resolution.

The mission impact of NASA's "Ebb" and "Flow" spacecraft will be met with a literal impact when the twin space probes crash into the moon next week.

The space agency announced Thursday that the flying robots are set for a planned smashing following their successful GRAIL mission to create a lunar gravity map.

It must be so great to work at NASA.

Scientist 1: Hey, do you know about moon gravity?

Scientist 2: Not really.

Scientist 1: Wanna map it?

Scientist 2: Sure.

Scientist 1: Should we get a couple of washing machines and turn 'em into spaceships?

Scientist 2: Totally.

Scientist 1: And then crash them into the moon when we're done and see what happens?

Scientist 2: Yep.

Scientist 1: Cool.

In reality, scientists say the twins — in orbit around the moon and flying in formation since Jan. 1, 2012 — are too small to cause a crash that's visible from Earth. They are expected to make contact with a mountain near the north pole.