Friday, September 18, 2009

NASA's new lunar mapper begins primary mission

LRO has started mapping the Moon and being in a polar orbit lets it
cross the poles on each orbit.
Already data is starting to fill in what the poles have to offer for
finding Hydrogen and possibly water in those dark craters.
- LRK -

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http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av020/090917mapping.html
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 17, 2009

After two months of checkout and calibration, NASA's $504 million Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was maneuvered into a circular 31-mile-high mapping orbit Tuesday and scientists said Thursday the spacecraft's instruments are delivering intriguing clues about the possible presence of water ice.

"The moon is starting to reveal her secrets, but some of those secrets are tantalizingly complex," said Michael Wargo, NASA's chief lunar scientist.
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Check out the LRO information and the results of the briefing.
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/south_pole.html
LRO Early Results Press Conference Visuals
09.17.09

GREENBELT, Md. -- NASA showcased new images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's seven instruments and provided updates about the topography of the moon's south pole during a news conference on September 17. NASA also provided an update about the spacecraft's status and mission plans. The briefing took place at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
› NASA press release
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/sep/HQ_09-215_LRO_First_Light.html

Briefing Speakers

› Craig Tooley, LRO project manager, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
› Michael Wargo, chief lunar scientist, Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
› Richard Vondrak, LRO project scientist, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
› David Smith, Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter principal investigator, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Images and Multimedia in Support of the News Conference
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More information and links, images, videos.
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/main/index.html
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
NASA's First Step Back to the Moon

Mission News
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LRO has a Twitter account if you want to keep up with what they have to say.
http://twitter.com/LRO_NASA

I hope not only the press but the general public gets the word that we are at the Moon and getting good data.
Hopefully we will have some good decisions on where would be a good place to land with humans.

AND, that we do indeed land humans on the Moon with the goal to understand it and develop it.
- LRK -


Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lrkellogg
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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