Deep Impact at Comet 9P/Tempel 1
Dart Impact at Dimorphos
Mars 2020 Skycrane descend stage crash smoke plume in the distance

These are tables of space probes (typically orbiters or components thereof) which have been deliberately destroyed at their objects of study, typically by hard landings or crash landings at the end of their respective missions and/or functionality. This endeavor not only precludes the hazards of orbital space debris and planetary contamination, but also provides the opportunity in some cases for terminal science given that the transient light released by the kinetic energy may be available for spectroscopy; the physical ejecta remains in place for further study. Even after soft landings had been mastered, NASA used crash landings to test whether Moon craters contained ice by crashing space probes into craters and testing the debris that got thrown out.[1]

Several rocket stages utilized during the Apollo space program were deliberately crashed on the Moon to aid seismic research, and four of the ascent stages of Apollo Lunar Modules were deliberately crashed onto the Moon after they had fulfilled their primary mission. In total at least 47 NASA rocket bodies have impacted the Moon.

A recent impactor, the unusual double-crater of which was photographed on March 4, 2022 by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, is of unknown provenance; no space program has taken credit for it.[2] The Deep Impact mission had its own purpose-built impactor which hit Comet 9P/Tempel 1. Terminal approaches to gas giants which resulted in the destruction of the space probe count as crash landings for the purposes of this article. The crash landing sites themselves are of interest to space archeology.

Luna 1, not itself a lunar orbiter, was the first spacecraft designed as an impactor. It failed to hit the Moon in 1959, however, thus inadvertently becoming the first man-made object to leave geocentric orbit and enter a heliocentric orbit, where it remains to this day.

Mercury

Mission Country/Agency Date of landing/impact Coordinates Notes
MESSENGERUnited States United States30 April 2015Probably around 54.4° N, 149.9° W, near the crater JanáčekIntentionally crashed at end of mission.

Moon

Mission Country/Agency Date of landing/impact Coordinates Notes
Luna 2Soviet Union Soviet Union13 September 195929°06′N 0°00′E / 29.1°N -0°E / 29.1; -0Intentional hard impact.
Ranger 4United States United States26 April 196215°30′S 130°42′W / 15.5°S 130.7°W / -15.5; -130.7Intentional hard impact; hit lunar far side due to failure of navigation system.
Ranger 6United States United States2 February 19649°24′N 21°30′E / 9.4°N 21.5°E / 9.4; 21.5Intentional hard impact.
Ranger 7United States United States31 July 196410°21′S 20°35′W / 10.35°S 20.58°W / -10.35; -20.58Intentional hard impact.
Ranger 8United States United States20 February 19652°43′N 24°37′E / 2.72°N 24.61°E / 2.72; 24.61Intentional hard impact.
Ranger 9United States United States24 March 196512°50′S 2°22′W / 12.83°S 2.37°W / -12.83; -2.37Intentional hard impact.
Lunar Orbiter 1United States United States29 October 1966Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
HitenJapan Japan10 April 1993Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
Lunar ProspectorUnited States United States31 July 199987°42′S 42°06′E / 87.7°S 42.1°E / -87.7; 42.1Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed into polar crater at end of mission to test for liberation of water vapour (not detected).
SMART-1 ESA3 September 2006Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
Chandrayaan-1 Moon Impact ProbeIndia India14 November 2008Impactor. Water found.
SELENE Rstar (Okina) Japan12 February 2009 Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
Chang'e 1 China1 March 2009Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
Kaguya Japan10 June 2009Lunar orbiter, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
LCROSS (Centaur) United States United States 9 October 2009 84°40′30″S 48°43′30″W / 84.675°S 48.725°W / -84.675; -48.725
84°43′44″S 49°21′36″W / 84.729°S 49.360°W / -84.729; -49.360		 Impactors: main craft flew through the plume of lunar dust created by its own upper rocket stage gathering data. Water confirmed.
Longjiang 2 China31 July 201916°41′44″N 159°31′01″E / 16.6956°N 159.5170°E / 16.6956; 159.5170[3]Micro-satellite, intentionally crashed at end of mission.
Chang'e 5 ascender China7 December 202030°S 0°E / 30°S 0°E / -30; 0Intentional impact of ascent stage after delivering sample to orbiter.

Mars and beyond

Mission Country/Agency Date of landing/impact Coordinates Notes
Mars
Mars Science Laboratory Sky craneUnited States United States6 August 2012Bradbury Landing
4°35′09″N 137°25′52″E / 4.5859°N 137.4312°E / 4.5859; 137.4312		Debris field created by the heat shield, sky crane, and other components.
Mars 2020 Sky craneUnited States United States18 February 2021Octavia E. Butler Landing
18°27′11″N 77°27′01″E / 18.453°N 77.4504°E / 18.453; 77.4504		Debris field created by the heat shield, sky crane, and other components.
Comets
Deep ImpactUnited States United States4 July 2005Tempel 1The "Smart Impactor" had a payload of 100 kg of copper, which at its closing velocity of 10.2 km/s had the kinetic energy equivalent to 4.8 tonnes of TNT.
Rosetta ESA30 September 201667P/Churyumov–GerasimenkoIntentionally crashed at end of mission.
Asteroids
Double Asteroid Redirection Test (Dart)United States United States26 September 2022DimorphosFirst attempt in history to redirect an asteroid.
Jupiter
Galileo atmospheric probeUnited States United States7 December 1995Functioned for 57.6 minutes.
GalileoUnited States United States21 September 2003Disintegrated in the Jovian atmosphere.
Saturn
Cassini orbiterUnited States United States15 September 20179.4°N. 53°W.30 seconds of terminal data, more than anticipated, were received prior to Cassini's disintegration in Saturn's atmosphere.

Venus and others

Venus
433 Eros

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Crash Landing on the Moon". NASA Science. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  2. ↑ Chron, Ariana Garcia (June 29, 2022). "'Mystery rocket' that crashed into the Moon baffles NASA scientists". Chron.
  3. ↑ Robinson, Mark (November 14, 2019). "Longjiang-2 Impact Site Found!".
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