Amateur astronomers will be excited to note that they can witness the impact of the SMART-1 probe [a href="http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/30aug_smart1.htm?"]crashing into the moon[/a]. The impact is scheduled for the morning of September 2nd (PDT).
From the article:
There's nothing wrong with the spacecraft, which is wrapping up a successful 3-year mission to the Moon. SMART-1's main job was to test a European-built ion engine. It worked beautifully, propelling the craft in 2003 on a unique spiral path from Earth to the Moon.
From lunar orbit, SMART-1 took thousands of high-resolution pictures and made mineral maps of the Moon's terrain. One of its most important discoveries was a "Peak of Eternal Light," a mountaintop near the Moon's north pole in constant, year-round sunlight. Peaks of Eternal Light are prime real estate for solar-powered Moon bases.
