Editing Lithobraking (section)

== End-of-mission lithobraking ==
Lithobraking is used to refer to the result of a spacecraft crashing into the rocky surface of a body with no measures to ensure its survival, either by accident or with intent. For instance, the term has been used to describe the impact of ''[[MESSENGER]]'' into [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]] after the spacecraft ran out of fuel.<ref name=etech20250430>{{cite web |url=http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/204672-nasas-messenger-probe-is-crashing-into-mercury-today |title=NASA's MESSENGER probe is crashing into Mercury today |publisher=Extreme Tech |date=April 30, 2015| access-date = September 13, 2020 |first=Ryan |last=Whitwam}}</ref><ref name=npr20150430>{{Cite news |first=Bill|last=Chappell| date=April 30, 2015 |title=Kill The Messenger: NASA Orbiter Crashes Into Mercury |work =NPR.org |access-date=September 13, 2020 |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/04/30/403279933/kill-the-messenger-nasa-orbiter-set-to-crash-into-mercury-thursday}}</ref> More recently, the term has also been used to describe the successful completion of the [[Double Asteroid Redirection Test|Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART)]], when a probe crashed into [[Dimorphos]] to test lithobraking as a method of planetary defense.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/newsletters/lpib/new/first-line-of-defense/ |title=First Line of Defense |website=Lunar and Planetary Institute |quote=...&nbsp;the live feed dropped out at the heartbreaking/lithobraking moment of impact&nbsp;... |first=Lori S. |last=Glaze |author-link=Lori Glaze |date=October 2022 |access-date=November 17, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221117060111/https://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/newsletters/lpib/new/first-line-of-defense/ |archive-date=November 17, 2022}}</ref>