After spending many hours of research and equal amount of money NASA has now intentionally crashed a space probe into the moon. The spacecraft in question is LADEE or the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer. The space probe was launched in September 2013 to study the atmosphere of the moon by making more than 100 orbits.

It had completed its primary mission in the month of March 2014. The LADEE was running low on fuel and left to its own devices may have crashed into a historic site on the moon such as the landing site of the Apollo missions. So the NASA engineers decided to bring it down to the moon in a controlled trajectory.

The LADEE even survived the four hour darkness generated by the total lunar eclipse of 15 April. An important feat considering that it was only ever designed to handle an hour’s darkness. It was shortly before the eclipse that NASA engineers gave the LADEE a final engine burn that determined the crash trajectory.

Finally the spacecraft crashed into the moon at a speed of nearly 5800 kilometers per hour. The craft itself disintegrated and may have even vaporized on its ways down to the surface of the moon. Now that is a science project going down in a blaze of glory!