NASA has successfully bulldozed two spacecraft into the moon's south pole in a search for hidden ice, but without the promised live photos. First, a 2.2-ton empty rocket hull smacked the moon's south pole at 7:31am. Four minutes later, the camera-laden space probe made its plunge to examine the kicked-up dust.
The smaller probe had five cameras and four other scientific instruments, and NASA had touted live photos on its website. But those images didn't surface. NASA officials say they are sure the two probes crashed but can't yet explain the photo glitch. Pictures were live until seconds before impact. The intentional crashes had been expected to kick up miles of lunar dust. (More moon stories.)