First ASA Mission To Moon In A Decade
NASA launched an Atlas V heavy lifter rocket carrying two lunar spacecraft, the first U.S. moon mission in a decade and a happy event for an agency gamely facing challenges.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, survived the launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., and deployed its solar array. Communications between the LRO and the ground were established after it separated from the rocket, and systems were powered up to control the spacecraft.
Meanwhile, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, also seemed healthy.
The LRO-LCROSS launch was postponed a day in an attempt to launch Space Shuttle Endeavour at nearby Kennedy Space Center, an attempt that was stymied by a persistent gaseous hydrogen leak. (Please see full story in this issue.)
The operations team continues to check out the LRO-LCROSS spacecraft subsystems and prepare for the first mid-course correction maneuver.
“This is a very important day for NASA,” said Doug Cooke, associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate in Washington, which designed and developed both the LRO and LCROSS missions. “We look forward to an extraordinary period of discovery at the moon and the information LRO will give us for future exploration missions.”
The spacecraft will be placed in low lunar polar orbit about 31 miles, or 50 kilometers, above the moon for a one year primary mission.
LRO instruments will help scientists compile high resolution three-dimensional maps of the lunar surface and also survey it at many spectral wavelengths. The satellite will explore the moon’s deepest craters, exploring permanently sunlit and shadowed regions, and provide understanding of the effects of lunar radiation on humans.
“Our job is to perform reconnaissance of the moon’s surface using a suite of seven powerful instruments,” said Craig Tooley, LRO project manager at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. “NASA will use the data LRO collects to design the vehicles and systems for returning humans to the moon and selecting the landing sites that will be their destinations.”
High resolution imagery from LRO’s camera will help identify landing sites for future explorers and characterize the moon’s topography and composition. The hydrogen concentrations at the moon’s poles will be mapped in detail, pinpointing the locations of possible frozen water. A miniaturized radar system will image the poles and test communication capabilities.
Water is critical for any sustained human presence on the moon, Mars or other celestial bodies. If it is found, that provides drinking water for astronauts, water for cooking, and for irrigating plants to obtain food. Also, breaking down water into hydrogen and oxygen yields oxygen for breathing, and hydrogen fuel to generate electricity, heat homes and offices, and power moon buggies.
The spacecraft will end their lives by crashing into the moon at points where frozen water may exist, checking to see whether it is there.
“During the 60 day commissioning period, we will turn on spacecraft components and science instruments,” explained Cathy Peddie, LRO deputy project manager at Goddard. “All instruments will be turned on within two weeks of launch, and we should start seeing the moon in new and greater detail within the next month.”
All LRO initial data sets will be deposited in the Planetary Data System, a publicly accessible repository of planetary science information, within six months of launch.
Goddard built and manages LRO. LRO is a NASA mission with international participation from the Institute for Space Research in Moscow. Russia provides the neutron detector aboard the spacecraft.
The LRO mission is providing updates via @ LRO_NASA on Twitter. To follow, visit:
http://www.twitter.com/lro_nasa on the Web.