Probe to crash into moon

                      www.spaceweather.com / likely impact point in red

You may have never heard of the Kaguya spacecraft, but the lunar surface will get a rather abrupt introduction around 1:30 CDT Wednesday, June 10th (1830UTC).

The best place to view the encounter (through a telescope) is in East Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Observers may be able to see a brief flash of light or a cloud of debris rising about 63 degrees south of the equator and near the right side of the moon. Look on the lower right edge of the disc if you live in one of these areas.

Kaguya is a big spaceship. It weighs more than three tons (in Earth gravity); it will hit the Moon at a gentle angle. Since it is moving at about 3,600mph, it should make quite a satisfactory display for telescopic onlookers.

Of course, it could fall into a crater and disappear, so a “good show” is not a guarantee.

The Japanese space agency, JAXA, planned to end the mission in this way. The craft will crash into the Moon on purpose. 
Kaguya was launched to look for frozen water in lunar craters which never get direct sunlight, and to map the moon's gravitational field. It has also sent fantastic pics back to the Earth.

 The craft will crash into the Moon on purpose.