1999 – Lunar Prospector Impact. At 2:52 am PDT, the spacecraft plunged into a permanently shadowed crater near the Moon’s south pole. This final act of the spacecraft may help determine if water-ice actually exists on the Moon. The crash ending to the successful mission also deposited 1 ounce of the remains of space scientist Eugene Shoemaker on the lunar surface, in effect making Shoemaker the first person to be buried on the moon.
