back to article NASA: Spacecraft crash site FOUND ON MOON RIM

NASA boffins are chuffed as ninepence this week to announce that they have discovered unmistakable signs of a crashed spacecraft far away from the Apollo landing sites on the far side of the Moon. Now you see my ejecta, now you don't The boffins believe that the wrecked craft was the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment …

  1. Anomalous Cowshed

    Ah

    Ah, Laddy...Cheese Grommit!

    1. AbelSoul
      Alien

      Re: Grommit

      Tastes like Wensleydale.

      And watch out for the coin-op, skiing, robotic oven.

  2. . 3

    "As it turns there were several small surface changes found in the predicted area of the impact

    Wonder what that statement implies for the state of preservation of Apollo detritus anyway.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      The Apollo sites are designated national monuments

      And for additional protection they fly US flags.

      (real answer: probably ok since the several fresh impacts in the LADEE case are across a few km, so a bullseye on a few square metres is fairly unlikely)

    2. Alan Brown Silver badge

      "Wonder what that statement implies for the state of preservation of Apollo detritus anyway."

      It's probably not much worse than the sandblasting the stuff around the landing sites took from the ascent engine.

  3. Neil Barnes Silver badge
    Alien

    Tsk.

    Litter louts!

    1. TitterYeNot

      Re: Tsk.

      "Litter louts!"

      I'd have far sterner words for anyone caught causing ejecta round my rim...

      1. Simon Harris

        Re: Tsk.

        "ejecta round my rim..."

        that reminds me... It's curry day today!

  4. Graham Marsden
    Alien

    Hello, we believe...

    ... that someone at this Aerospace Launch facility may have been involved in a crash sometime in the last few years...

    Messrs Xylp!c, q'Ptrach and f*t@ng.

  5. Fink-Nottle

    Well done, folks

    I am pleased to see that my fellow commentards have avoided any immature humour involving Ladee and woman drivers ... because that would be sexist and wrong.

  6. Uffish

    " only about two tenths of a mile"

    What sort of commie leaning, bastardized, decimal distance measurement is this?

    "about 350 yards" puhleese, or about 35 double-decker buses* if you want everyone to understand.

    * 2299.1509 linguine to be precise.

    1. DocJames

      Re: " only about two tenths of a mile"

      And this appalling travesty of units: 1,699 meters per second

      What is this in the El Reg Voyager 1 notation?

      1. Uffish

        Re: " only about two tenths of a mile"

        If you're going to indulge in decimalized miles FFS go the whole hog and use SI units.

    2. The First Dave

      Re: " only about two tenths of a mile"

      Surely everyone knows that miles, inches and the like can _only_ be divided into eights and sixteenths, nothing good will come out of one-fifth of a mile. (I can't even bring myself to repeat the original abomination.)

    3. Simon Harris

      Re: " only about two tenths of a mile"

      ... or 16 cricket wickets.

  7. The last doughnut
    Pint

    So they smashed LADEE into the backside of the moon? Seems so wrong.

    It is effectively Friday for me so beers all round

    1. AbelSoul
  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    And men should walk again.

  9. Steve Graham

    "LRO boffins tell us"

    I'm hoping it was actually LRO press people who were so forthcoming with the non-metric units, while the scientists are doing everything properly in the SI system. I'm hoping.

  10. Simon B
    WTF?

    THUD!!! ZZZzzzzzzz .....

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Black Helicopters

    Oh, of COURSE it was one of ours!!

    (/sarcasm) Yes, it was one of ours. The fact that the Men in Black are sanitizing the crash site right now has nothing to do with the craft being a Decepticon battle platform or anything like that...

  12. Ugotta B. Kiddingme

    missed opportunity

    I can't believe none of the editorial staff demanded the inclusion of this as headline or sub-head:

    "LADEE bits found on moon!"

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Coat

      Re: missed opportunity

      Should LASSIE be worried? Woof

  13. i like crisps
    Alien

    From your photo:

    It would seem that that the bods at NASA have switched on the crashed vehicles hazzard warning lights...how considerate.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "carefully aimed so as not to inadvertently crash into one of the historic Apollo landing sites where men once walked."

    uh-huh

  15. J 7

    "was not traveling very fast, approximately 3,800 miles per hour "

    whats that in lunar Mach numbers?

    In space....no-one can hear you crash

    1. DropBear
      WTF?

      First....

      ...be a dear and define Mach a.k.a. the speed of sound for an atmospheric pressure of zero.

    2. harmjschoonhoven
      Boffin

      Re: lunar Mach number

      The illuminated side of the Moon (not to be confused with the near side) is bombarded by the solar wind with 5-80 protons/cm³ at ~200000K. The velocity of sound in hydrogen plasma (not H2 gas) at 200000K is approx. 57 km/s.

      So 3800 miles/hour is 0.033 in lunar Mach numbers.

  16. hoola Silver badge

    More debris scattered in the name of science

    Would have been far better if they had not crashed it at all. In this day it is not acceptable to just fill everything up with junk because we do not want to think about clearing up. Look at the problems off space junk.

    It is the same as chucking barrels of nuclear waste into the sea. Out of sight, out of mind, job done & a hearty pat on the back.

    1. Intractable Potsherd

      Re: More debris scattered in the name of science

      I think you missed the joke icon or a /s tag.

      If not, "ODFO" is the only response I can think of.

  17. Stuart21551

    "Spacecraft crash site FOUND ON MOON RIM"

    So the moon is flat too, just like the earth?

    It just skips along on top of the aether, I guess.

  18. Stuart21551

    "Spacecraft crash site FOUND ON MOON RIM"

    So the moon is flat too, just like the earth?

    Guess it just skims across the top of the aether -

  19. J 7

    If the moon has a rim, does that mean the Clangers have to be careful not to fall off?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Joke

      Rimmer

      Well if the Moon is indeed flat like the Earth then I suppose they should worry, or ask the Soup Dragon

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