This was totally unexpected, exactly as we'd planned

This Guardian story doesn't make any sense.

Well, that's not an unexpected phrase. But here, take a read:

Nasa's moon explorer Ladee crashes on far side of the moon
After unexpectedly surviving a full lunar eclipse, the lunar probe smashed onto surface and ended 100-day mission as planned

Nasa's robotic moon explorer, Ladee, is no more.

Flight controllers confirmed Friday that the orbiting spacecraft crashed into the back side of the moon as planned, just three days after surviving a full lunar eclipse, something it was never designed to do.

Researchers believe Ladee likely vaporized when it hit because of its extreme orbiting speed of 3,600 mph, possibly smacking into a mountain or side of a crater. No debris would have been left behind.

Okay, let me get this straight. Your moon explorer, which unexpectedly went through a lunar eclipse we've known was coming for centuries has now ended its mission "as planned"?. Well, if it ended the mission as planned wouldn't it have gone through an expected eclipse?

The Guardian makes you read a hell of a lot further into the story before they finally explain what the hell they're talking about:

It completed its primary 100-day science mission last month and was on overtime. The extension had Ladee flying during Tuesday morning's lunar eclipse; its instruments were not designed to endure such prolonged darkness and cold.

But the small spacecraft survived – it's about the size of a vending machine – with just a couple pressure sensors acting up

Ladee did not have enough fuel to remain in lunar orbit much beyond the end of its mission. It joined dozens if not scores of science satellites and Apollo program spacecraft parts that have slammed into the moon's surface, on purpose, over the decades, officials said. Until Ladee, the most recent man-made impacts were the LCross crater-observing satellite that went down in 2009 and the twin Grail spacecraft in 2012.

I mean this story has a happy ending and all, but seriously? The copy doesn't reflect the quotes very well. Ladee fared better than expected during the eclipse. Ladee ended its 100-day mission as planned -- a month ago. The article sets you up with a weird premise right out of the gate.