Twin NASA probes to crash into moon next week The Ebb and Flow
spacecrafts were launched in September 2011 to map the moon's
gravity field in unprecedented detail. Tue, Dec 11 2012 at 12:53
PM NASA's twin Grail spacecraft will crash into the lunar
surface intentionally next week, bringing their gravity-mapping
mission to a spectacular end. The probes, known as Ebb and Flow,
will be commanded to slam into the moon on Dec. 17, NASA
officials said Monday, Dec. 10. The agency will host a press
conference Thursday, Dec. 13 at 1:30 p.m. EST (1830 GMT) to
discuss the impact and the events leading up to it. The $496
million Grail mission — short for Gravity Recovery and Interior
Laboratory — launched in September 2011 to map the moon's
gravity field in unprecedented detail. Ebb and Flow arrived in
orbit around the moon about one year ago — on New Year's Eve and
New Year's Day, respectively. The washing-machine-size
spacecraft were originally tasked with 90-day science missions,
which ran from March to May. But NASA e