earth science

List of spacecraft intentionally crashed into extraterrestrial bodies

List of spacecraft intentionally crashed into extraterrestrial bodies is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of spacecraft intentionally crashed into extraterrestrial bodies rather than just read about it. In short: This is a list of uncrewed spacecraft which have been intentionally destroyed at their objects of study, typically by hard landings or crash landings at the end of their respective missions and/or functionality. This list only includes spacecraft specifically instructed to crash into the surface of an astronomical body other than the Earth, and also does not include unintentionally crashed spacecraft, derelict space…

Key takeaways

List of spacecraft intentionally crashed into extraterrestrial bodies belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of spacecraft intentionally crashed into extraterrestrial bodies to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of spacecraft intentionally crashed into extraterrestrial bodies from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

This is a list of uncrewed spacecraft which have been intentionally destroyed at their objects of study, typically by hard landings or crash landings at the end of their respective missions and/or functionality. This list only includes spacecraft specifically instructed to crash into the surface of an astronomical body other than the Earth, and also does not include unintentionally crashed spacecraft, derelict spacecraft, or spacecraft designed as landers. Intentionally crashing spacecraft not only removes the possibility of orbital space debris and planetary contamination, but also provides the opportunity (in some cases) for terminal science given that any transient light released by the kinetic energy may be available for spectroscopy; physical ejecta is also studied, and the impact crater(s) remain for further study. Even after soft landings had (for the most part) 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. Several rocket stages utilized during the Apollo space program were intentionally crashed on the Moon to aid seismic research, and four of the ascent stages of Apollo Lunar Modules were intentionally 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, although a later study attributed it to a spent upper stage from the Chang'e 5-T1 mission. 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.

Planets

Mercury

Venus

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Planetary moons

Earth's Moon

Other bodies

Asteroids

Comets

Chronological gallery

See also List of extraterrestrial orbiters List of landings on extraterrestrial bodies List of artificial objects on extraterrestrial surfaces Flyby (spaceflight) Space rendezvous

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of spacecraft intentionally crashed into extraterrestrial bodies

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of spacecraft intentionally crashed into extraterrestrial bodies claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of spacecraft intentionally crashed into extraterrestrial bodies before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of spacecraft intentionally crashed into extraterrestrial bodies ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of spacecraft intentionally crashed into extraterrestrial bodies

In research: List of spacecraft intentionally crashed into extraterrestrial bodies appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of spacecraft intentionally crashed into extraterrestrial bodies in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of spacecraft intentionally crashed into extraterrestrial bodies is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Extraterrestrial atmosphere entry, Ishtar Terra quadrangle, LQ12 quadrangle, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of spacecraft intentionally crashed into extraterrestrial bodies outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study List of spacecraft intentionally crashed into extraterrestrial bodies in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what List of spacecraft intentionally crashed into extraterrestrial bodies means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain List of spacecraft intentionally crashed into extraterrestrial bodies out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is List of spacecraft intentionally crashed into extraterrestrial bodies in simple terms?

Why does List of spacecraft intentionally crashed into extraterrestrial bodies matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of spacecraft intentionally crashed into extraterrestrial bodies?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of spacecraft intentionally crashed into extraterrestrial bodies.