NASA locates resting place of late LADEE probe

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Six months ago, NASA's LADEE probe went out with a bang, slamming into the surface of the moon after little more than half a year on the job. Earlier this week, one of NASA's veteran lunar probes spotted LADEE's final resting place.

As new photographs captured by the camera of NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter show, a small crater marks the spot were LADEE intentionally smashed itself into the moon's surface on April 18, 2014. The crater lies within the larger Sundman V crater, located on the far side of the moon away from the Apollo landing sites. The new imagery confirms LADEE crashed roughly two-tenths of a mile away from where NASA engineers predicted the probe would make impact.

"I'm happy that the LROC team was able to confirm the LADEE impact point," Butler Hine, LADEE project manager at California's Ames Research Center, said in a press release. "It really helps the LADEE team to get closure and know exactly where the product of their hard work wound up."

While LADEE lasted only barely more than six months in space, LRO has been orbiting the moon for more than five years. The probe is managed by NASA engineers working from Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

"With LRO, NASA will study our nearest celestial neighbor for at least two more years," said John Keller, LRO project scientist. "LRO continues to increase our understanding of the moon and its environment."

A slding composite image, showing before and after shots of the LADEE impact site, can be found on NASA's website.