ESA Mulls Herschel Telescope Crash To Search For Lunar Ice

 ESA To Decide By End Of 2012 If 2.8 Metric Ton Herschel Telescope Will Crash Into Lunar Surface In Search Of Permafrost; $1.4B Infrared Astronomy Mission Ends March 2013 Due To Depletion Of Cryogenic Superfluid Helium; Spacecraft Currently At L2; Earliest Arrival At Moon Would Be June 2013; Alternate Plan To Place In Solar Orbit, Away From Earth For 100s Of Years

Image Credit: ESA, NASA