Science Art: 3D movie taken by the Terrain Camera (TC) of KAGUYA (SELENE) during its maneuvered falling to the Moon.), Japanese Space Agency JAXA.

(Larger version here ^[1].)

This is the Japanese lunar probe Kayuga (Selene) crashing into the Moon.

More specifically, this is a 3D rendering of data sent by the probe as it ended its mission – just as it was programmed to do. Silently. Inexorably. Beautifully. There’s a Japanese word, aware (ah-wah-ray), that describes the beauty of sadness and transience ^[2]. It’s a wonderful concept.

Here, we have built a masterful, efficient, gleaming machine. We are sending it to the moon. It will destroy itself there. We will learn much from this.

And then it will be gone forever.