A NASA planetary exploration mission came to a planned, but nonetheless dramatic, end April 30 when it slammed into Mercury's surface at about 8,750 mph and created a new crater on the planet's surface.
The asteroid zoomed by Earth at a perfectly safe distance of around 1.8 million miles (2.9 kilometers).
Engineers expect to lose contact with the private US moon lander Odysseus on Tuesday, cutting short the mission after its sideways touchdown last week.
NASA announced Tuesday that a $32.7 million Capstone spacecraft intended to try out a skewed lunar orbit had lost contact, but agency engineers are confident
