Showing posts with label LADEE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LADEE. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

LADEE Project Scientist Update: The Legacy Lives On! - April 22, 2014

LADEE Project Scientist Update: The Legacy Lives On! - April 22, 2014
Almost a year ago LADEE had a mission to the moon, remember? 
- LRK -

---
NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft has impacted the Moon, capping an extremely successful operational mission. Science analysis will continue for months, as the science teams churn through the data and write papers about their findings. So LADEE is gone, but its science legacy lives on!
LADEE ran its science instruments almost non-stop right up to impact the evening of April 17, 2014, in an effort to gather as much low-altitude data as possible. Further study of the returned data will reveal what the instruments saw at these amazingly low orbits, just a few kilometers above the surface. Early results suggest that LADEE was low enough to see some new things, including increased dust density and possibly new atmospheric species. In an incredible race with time, LADEE’s Real Time Operations team queued and downloaded all science files just minutes prior to LADEE's impact.
As the clock was running out on the LADEE mission, we took advantage of an opportunity to replicate observations by the Apollo astronauts more than 40 years ago. (We hinted at this in an earlier update). We used one of the star tracker cameras to gaze out over the Moon's horizon, while LADEE was in the deep darkness of the lunar night and over the far side where no Earthshine can reach.
---
Then in November 2014 it's crash site was imaged, and more information in December 2014.
- LRK -
---
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has finally identified the impact crater created by the LADEE Spacecraft that crashed into the Moon back in April to close out its mission of exploring the tenuous lunar atmosphere to answer long-standing questions on its composition and processes ongoing therein to look into the development and evolution of planetary bodies with exospheres. LADEE - going by the full name 'Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer' - also served as a pathfinder for new technologies, testing a new satellite bus and demonstrating laser communications at large distances for future use in space applications.
LADEE launched back on September 7, 2013 blasting off atop a Minotaur V rocket that delivered the craft to a Lunar Transfer Orbit from which LADEE began using its own propulsion system to enter lunar orbit on October 6 followed by several orbit adjustments to begin science operations from a low orbit around the Moon on November 22. Due to its low orbit, LADEE's mission was limited in time as the spacecraft frequently had to perform orbital adjustment maneuvers to maintain a stable orbit. The mission was extended by four weeks since the vehicle's propellant supply lasted until April 11
---
LADEE Project Scientist Update: December 2014
---
The LADEE science team also has been busy analyzing the returned data, figuring out how the exosphere breathes and changes, and how the moon's tenuous dust shroud varies in time and space.
The Lunar Dust Experiment (LDEX) discovered a low-density cloud of small dust particles over the part of the moon that faces the more-or-less steady rain of micrometeoroid particles onto the lunar surface. The Earth/moon system orbits the sun with an average speed of 30 km/sec (67,000 mph), and like bugs on a car windshield, the interplanetary micrometeoroid materials smack into the "upstream" side of the Earth and moon. On Earth these cause meteors, which burn up in the atmosphere, but with the almost negligible atmosphere on the moon, these particles smash into the surface with tremendous speed. Each particle impact sends a spray of ejecta up into the lunar sky; this process is continuous but really increases when the moon encounters a micrometeoroid stream. The flux of incoming particles can increase by factors of up to ten times the normal rates – we see these as meteor showers on Earth. On the moon, it's a very heavy rain of tiny, tiny rocks, and the spray of ejecta increases accordingly.
LADEE saw these meteor shower dust particles several times during the mission. LADEE also looked for mysterious "levitated" dust, thought to be suspended by electric forces over the sunrise and sunset terminators. This mystery was prompted in part by astronaut sightings of a horizon glow seen from orbit. However, the spacecraft’s instruments found no evidence of anything that could be seen by the human eye.
---
---
Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -
=====================================================
Posted by at
Labels:

Friday, April 4, 2014

LADEE Skims the Moon Before Crash

My SKY & Telescope email notes that the LADEE mission is coming to an end and that they are going in for some really low orbits to get as much information as possible before the final impact on the far side of the moon on or about April 21st.  It will an interesting ride as there will be a total lunar eclipse on the night of April 14-15 and things are going to be cold.
- LRK -.

-----------------------------------
LADEE Skims the Moon Before Crash

NASA's Lunar Atmosphere Dust Environment Explorer will soon end its mission — but not before swooping close to the lunar surface and enduring the frigid darkness of a total lunar eclipse.
...

LADEE will fire its engine for the last time on April 11th, redirecting it onto a sure-fire, but gradual collision course somewhere on the farside — well away from any historical landing sites — at 1.6 km per second (5,000 miles per hour). While LADEE makes its final descent on the lunar farside, the science team will lose radio contact.
...
-----------------------------------

Want to guess when  LADEE actually impacts the far side of the moon?
- LRK -

-----------------------------------
Take the Plunge: LADEE Impact Challenge
NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft is gradually lowering its orbital altitude over the moon. LADEE will continue to make important science observations before its planned impact into the lunar surface later this month.

When will it impact the lunar surface? NASA wants to hear your best guess!

LADEE mission managers expect the spacecraft will impact the moon’s surface on or before April 21. On April 11, ground controllers at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., will command LADEE to perform its final orbital maintenance maneuver prior to a total lunar eclipse on April 15, when Earth’s shadow passes over the moon. This eclipse, which will last approximately four hours, exposes the spacecraft to conditions just on the edge of what it was designed to survive.

This final maneuver will ensure that LADEE's trajectory will impact the far side of the moon, which is not in view of Earth and away from any previous lunar mission landings. There are no plans to target a particular impact location on the lunar surface, and the exact date and time depends on several factors.

"The moon's gravity field is so lumpy, and the terrain is so highly variable with crater ridges and valleys that frequent maneuvers are required or the LADEE spacecraft will impact the moon’s surface," said Butler Hine, LADEE project manager at Ames. "Even if we perform all maneuvers perfectly, there's still a chance LADEE could impact the moon sometime before April 21, which is when we expect LADEE's orbit to naturally decay after using all the fuel onboard."

Anyone is eligible to enter the "Take the Plunge: LADEE Impact Challenge." Winners will be announced after impact and will be e-mailed a commemorative, personalized certificate from the LADEE program. The submissions deadline is 3 p.m. PDT Friday, April 11.

For more information about the challenge and to enter, visit: http://socialforms.nasa.gov/ladee

...
-----------------------------------

HOme page for the LADEE mission.
- LRK -

-----------------------------------
LADEE News and Features

NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) - pronounced "laddie" - is a robotic mission that will orbit the moon to gather detailed information about the structure and composition of the thin lunar atmosphere, and determine whether dust is being lofted into the lunar sky. A thorough understanding of these characteristics of our nearest celestial neighbor will help researchers understand other bodies in the solar system, such as large asteroids, Mercury, and the moons of outer planets.

The LADEE spacecraft's modular common spacecraft bus, or body, is an innovative way of transitioning away from custom designs and toward multi-use designs and assembly-line production, which could drastically reduce the cost of spacecraft development, just as the Ford Model T did for automobiles. NASA's Ames Research Center designed, developed, built, and tested the spacecraft and manages mission operations.
...
-----------------------------------

One bumpy moon, gravitationally, makes for an interesting ride.  So it will be for others that go as well.

Thanks for looking up with me. 
===========================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -

===========================================
Posted by at
Labels:

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

China’s Maiden Moon Rover Mission Chang’e 3 Achieves Lunar Orbit with the touchdown scheduled for some time Dec. 14.

We see that Chang'e 3 has achieved lunar orbit and is preparing to land on the Moon.
Things will really get interesting should the landing be successful. 
Much to learn about our nearest celestial neighbor. 
- LRK -

-------------------------------------------
China’s Maiden Moon Rover Mission Chang’e 3 Achieves Lunar Orbit
China’s maiden moon landing probe successfully entered lunar orbit on Friday, Dec. 6, following Sunday’s (Dec. 1) spectacular blastoff – setting the stage for the historic touchdown attempt in mid December.

Engineer’s at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) commanded the Chang’e 3 lunar probe to fire its braking thrusters for 361 seconds, according to China’s Xinhua news agency.

The do or die orbital insertion maneuver proceeded precisely as planned at the conclusion of a four and a half day voyage to Earth’s nearest neighbor.

China’s ‘Yutu’ lunar lander is riding piggyback atop the four legged landing probe during the history making journey from the Earth to the Moon.
-------------------------------------------

Dwayne Day talks about the implications of the Chang'e mission.
- LRK -

-------------------------------------------
It’s not bragging if you do itby Dwayne Day
Monday, December 9, 2013

Later this week, if all goes according to plan, China will land a robotic spacecraft and rover on the Moon, something that nobody has done in nearly four decades. If the Chinese do what they did for the launch, they will broadcast much of the event live on television and over the Internet. Last week’s launch coverage on government-controlled English language CCTV was remarkable for its openness. Indeed, the coverage was indistinguishable from Western news coverage of a major space event. There was no propagandizing or nationalistic chest-thumping, just a straightforward reporting with lots of information about the mission and what was happening. The event, and its coverage, highlighted the fact that China has an attractive, technically sophisticated scientific space program that could serve international relations purposes. It was a demonstration of what American political scientist Joseph Nye has referred to as “soft power,” the ability to compel or attract nations to do what you want. China’s space program gives them this ability to attract partners. The problem is that some of China’s other activities undercut their attractiveness as a potential partner.
...
-------------------------------------------

Some more at SPACEFLIGHT NOW
- LRK -

-------------------------------------------
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/china/change3/131206loi/#.Uqi8pPRDua-
Chinese probe arrives in lunar orbit for moon landing
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: December 6, 2013

Less than five days after leaving Earth atop a blazing Long March launcher, China's Chang'e 3 spacecraft reached lunar orbit Friday to prepare for an historic rocket-assisted touchdown in the moon's Bay of Rainbows later this month.

Outfitted with a six-wheeled robotic rover and smarts to avoid hazards in the landing zone, Chang'e 3 is China's boldest unmanned space mission to date, extending feats achieved by a pair of lunar orbiters launched in 2007 and 2010.

The four-legged lander fired its propulsion system for six minutes and braked into orbit around the moon at 0953 GMT (4:53 a.m. EST) Friday, according to China's state-run Xinhua news agency.
...
-------------------------------------------

With LADEE looking at the Moon we should get some idea of what going back to the Moon will do to the tenuous lunar atmosphere.


Take a look again at again at what the Planetary Society blog has to say.

-------------------------------------------
Chang'e 3 and LADEE updates -- and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, too, for good measure
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla
2013/12/05 08:40 CST
Topics: pretty pictures, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, mission status, LADEE, the Moon, Chang'E program

Update Dec 6 7:54 a.m. PT: Chang'e 3 has arrived in lunar orbit.

Chang'e 3 is just about to land on the Moon, and the LADEE orbiter has begun a new science mission there, while Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is still producing amazing images.
-------------------------------------------

Thanks for looking up with me.  
- LRK -
 
============================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -

============================================
Posted by at
Labels: , ,

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

NASA Laser Communication System Sets Record with Data Transmissions to and from Moon

Look at these speeds. 

"NASA's Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD) has made history using a pulsed laser beam to transmit data over the 239,000 miles between the moon and Earth at a record-breaking download rate of 622 megabits per second (Mbps)."
-LRK-

-------------------------------------------
October 22, 2013

Joshua Buck
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
jbuck@nasa.gov

Dewayne Washington
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-0040
dewayne.a.washington@nasa.gov

RELEASE 13-309

NASA Laser Communication System Sets Record with Data Transmissions to and from Moon

NASA's Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD) has made history using a pulsed laser beam to transmit data over the 239,000 miles between the moon and Earth at a record-breaking download rate of 622 megabits per second (Mbps).

LLCD is NASA's first system for two-way communication using a laser instead of radio waves. It also has demonstrated an error-free data upload rate of 20 Mbps transmitted from the primary ground station in New Mexico to the spacecraft currently orbiting the moon.

"LLCD is the first step on our roadmap toward building the next generation of space communication capability," said Badri Younes, NASA's deputy associate administrator for space communications and navigation (SCaN) in Washington. "We are encouraged by the results of the demonstration to this point, and we are confident we are on the right path to introduce this new capability into operational service soon."

Since NASA first ventured into space, it has relied on radio frequency (RF) communication. However, RF is reaching its limit as demand for more data capacity continues to increase. The development and deployment of laser communications will enable NASA to extend communication capabilities such as increased image resolution and 3-D video transmission from deep space.

"The goal of LLCD is to validate and build confidence in this technology so that future missions will consider using it," said Don Cornwell, LLCD manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "This unique ability developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory has incredible application possibilities."

LLCD is a short-duration experiment and the precursor to NASA's long-duration demonstration, the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD). LCRD is a part of the agency's Technology Demonstration Missions Program, which is working to develop crosscutting technology capable of operating in the rigors of space. It is scheduled to launch in 2017.

LLCD is hosted aboard NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), launched in September from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va. LADEE is a 100-day robotic mission operated by the agency's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif. LADEE's mission is to provide data that will help NASA determine whether dust caused the mysterious glow astronauts observed on the lunar horizon during several Apollo missions. It also will explore the moon's atmosphere. Ames designed, developed, built, integrated and tested LADEE, and manages overall operations of the spacecraft. NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington funds the LADEE mission.

The LLCD system, flight terminal and primary ground terminal at NASA's White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, N.M., were developed by the Lincoln Laboratory at MIT. The Table Mountain Optical Communications Technology Laboratory operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is participating in the demonstration. A third ground station operated by the European Space Agency on Tenerife in the Canary Islands also will be participating in the demonstration.For more information about LLCD, visit:

http://llcd.gsfc.nasa.gov

For more information about the LADEE mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ladee

For more information about LCRD, visit:

http://esc.gsfc.nasa.gov/267/LCRD.html

For more information about SCaN, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/scan

-end-
-------------------------------------------

And way back, Pioneer 10 at launch 256 bit/s.
-LRK-

-------------------------------------------
Pioneer 10
...
The space probe included a redundant system of transceivers, one attached to the narrow-beam, high-gain antenna, the other to an omni-antenna and medium-gain antenna. The parabolic dish for the high-gain antenna was 2.74 meters (9.0 ft) in diameter and made from an aluminum honeycomb sandwich material. The spacecraft was spun about an axis that was parallel to the axis of this antenna so that it could remain oriented toward the Earth.[12] Each transceiver was 8 W and transmitted data across the S-band using 2110 MHz for the uplink from Earth and 2292 MHz for the downlink to Earth with the Deep Space Network tracking the signal. Data to be transmitted was passed through a convolutional encoder so that most communication errors could becorrected by the receiving equipment on Earth.[1]:43 The data transmission rate at launch was 256 bit/s, with the rate degrading by about −1.27 millibit/s for each day during the mission.[12]
...
-------------------------------------------

Lasers Find Varied Uses in Space Applications
-LRK-

-------------------------------------------
Lasers Find Varied Uses in Space Applications
Valerie C. Coffey, Freelance Science Writer
From the first laser fired on another planet to observatory guide stars and space collision avoidance systems, lasers in space are making news with numerous advances and universal firsts (as far as we know).

With the beginning of the Laser Lunar Ranging experiment in the 1960s, the use of lasers in space moved out of the realm of science fiction into reality. While lasers-as-lightsabers are still only Star Wars fiction, the numerous ways we use lasers in space applications are pretty cool, even to non-nerdy folks.

NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has been front and center in the news since its landing on the distant big red rock on Aug. 6 of this year.1 Part of its mission is to search for markers of biological habitability as well as to study geology, climate and the role of water on the planet. In a functional “target practice” test on Aug. 19, Curiosity’s powerful megawatt laser became our first to be fired on another planet (see Figure 1). In that first self-test of the instrument after landing, it fired 30 5-ns-long pulses, each with more than 1 million W of power, over a 10-s period at a fist-size rock dubbed “Coronation.”
...
--------------------------------------------

Thanks for looking up with me.  
- LRK -
============================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -

============================================
Posted by at
Labels: , ,

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Godspeed, LADEE! AGI software-based Flight Dynamics System to be tested on mission to Moon

I have been reading some of the links I passed earlier and hope you have had a chance to do the same.  I was interested in what was being done with AGI's ASTROGATOR. for the Flight Dynamics System. 

I remember the work that was being done to plan for a possible Lunar Prospector mission.  Folks from Goddard Space Flight Center came to NASA Ames one day with their copy of Swingby to see if it could be used to help speed up orbit designs.

My jobs in support of the Pioneer Mission went away with those missions ending.  I went to work for Lam Research for a year and a half, and then I got a call from Rick Campo who was now working for Lockheed/Martin on the Lunar Prospector mission. Would I like to see if there might be a way to display live instrument data for a Lunar Prospector web site? 

I had to chose if I wanted to leave a full time teaching job at Lam Research to take a half time job with Orbital Sciences Corporation to work on software for the web site. YES!  (later that would become full time - then half time - then no time, with visitor passes, but that is another Pioneer Anomaly story)

Launch dates slipped, as happens with new space missions, and new possible lunch profiles needed to be worked out. Swingby had turned into a commercial product.  This was acquired by AGI and used for the Lunar Prospector mission.

This software is again used here for LADEE as mentioned in Jim Woodburn's AGI blog. If you haven't read the blog already, take a look. He has more links as well.  

By the way, you can get a free version of STK and then buy the more expensive modules only if you need them. I have version 9 (which I haven't learned how to use) and now version 10 is out. :-)


-------------------------------------------
Godspeed, LADEE! AGI software-based Flight Dynamics System to be tested on mission to Moon
NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft is in the nose-cone of the Minotaur V rocket, awaiting launch from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia tonight at 11:27 p.m. EDT. This mission marks many firsts—it’s the first spacecraft built in-house at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., without a prime contractor, the first launch of the U.S. Air Force’s five-stage Minotaur V vehicle, managed and operated by Orbital Sciences Corp., the first lunar mission flown by Orbital and the first lunar mission launched out of Wallops. According to the NASA website, this approximately 160-day “robotic mission will orbit the Moon to gather detailed information about the structure and composition of the thin lunar atmosphere and determine whether dust is being lofted into the lunar sky. Once launched, the spacecraft will enter into a series of phasing orbits that will allow it to approach the Moon from its leading edge, travel behind it and reemerge to execute a 3-minute Lunar Orbit Insertion maneuver that will place it in an elliptical retrograde equatorial orbit for 24 hours. A series of maneuvers will then be performed to reduce the orbit to nearly circular with a 156-mile altitude. After this, a 100-day Science Phase will commence, followed by a decommissioning period when the altitude will be lowered and the spacecraft will impact the lunar surface.”
......

The LADEE Flight Dynamics System (FDS) was built by our good friends at Applied Defense Solutions (ADS) and Space Exploration Engineering (SEE), in close coordination with Ames  where mission operations will be performed after launch. I was privileged to be part of the peer review team for the LADEE flight dynamics design and was very impressed by the exceptional quality of the people on the team. ADS has used AGI products to operate well more than 20 military, NASA and commercial spacecraft, including IBEX, LCROSS and theRadiation Belt Storm Probes, and the LADEE FDS is no different. The system is based on our STK, STK Astrogator and Orbit Determination Tool Kit software. Because the software has been proven in so many operational NASA missions and is in use at most centers, the LADEE team was confident in using it for their FDS. It also made collaboration that much easier.
.....

Also significant was the reuse of AGI products. Since the software has been employed for many other operational missions, including those in deep space, using it helped reduce technical risk and testing time.

....

About Jim Woodburn

Dr. Jim Woodburn is AGI's chief orbital scientist. He is responsible for the maintenance, enhancement and verification of all STK functions that rely on orbital or attitude dynamics.
-------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------

Here is a 13 page Microsoft Word document about history of STK.

-------------------------------------------

Software Architecture and Use of Satellite Tool Kit's ... - IEEC 


This paper describes the history of the software program and reasons behind the numerical ...
 In 1996 AGI bought Navigator from CSC, and obtained the rights to ... 
A summary of the libration point and deep-space missions that employed ..... 
BeforeSwingby was built, the Goddard Mission Analysis System (GMAS) was used  ...

Software Architecture and Use of Satellite Tool Kit’s Astrogator Module for Libration Point Orbit Missions
John Carrico, Emmet Fletcher

Analytical Graphics, Inc.

Abstract

The Satellite Tool Kit (STK) Astrogator software module is the third and most recent version of a program originally developed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).  This software lineage - Swingby, Navigator, Astrogator – started in 1989 and has since been used to design and operate many missions, including the non-low Earth orbit missions Clementine, Wind, SOHO, ACE, Lunar Prospector, the AsiaSat 3 rescue, and MAP.  This paper describes the history of the software program and reasons behind the numerical methods employed. The authors also discuss the software design methodology and goals that led to this mature software product.  Limitations encountered during analysis and operations use are described, as well as subsequent architecture changes made to alleviate them, reduce risk, and support automation.

Introduction

Astrogator is the maneuver planning and trajectory design module of Satellite Tool Kit (STK), a completely commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software program developed by Analytical Graphics, Incorporated (AGI)[i].  Astrogator is fully integrated within STK and, among other things, can be used to generate the orbit ephemeris and attitude history of spacecraft.  These data are then available for subsequent analysis and processing by other modules in STK, such as calculating station acquisitions, lighting times, communication links, coverage effectiveness, and Sensor obscurations.
........

Summary

The software linage of Swingby, Navigator, and STK/Astrogator has been used for the analysis and operations of the majority of Libration point trajectories, as well as several Cislunar, Lunar, asteroid, and interplanetary missions, since it’s first use for the Clementine (DSPSE) mission.  The feedback from use in early missions has caused significant enhancements for the most recent incarnation, STK/Astrogator.  The driving requirement to have a single software tool support pre-launch mission analysis, operations, and contingencies has been a major factor in selection of algorithms and methods, and several innovative solutions have been implemented to accomplish this task.

The close working relationship between software industry and government experts has been instrumental in the development of a commercial software product with a mature feature set able to support Libration point and other multi-body missions.

Finally the integration of the trajectory software package Astrogator with the other mission analysis capabilities of STK has proven to be valuable for many analysis and operational tasks:  The ‘normal’ post-trajectory-design numerical tasks have been streamlined and automated, ensuring consistency, reducing risks, and allowing studies that would otherwise be time and cost prohibitive.  Additionally, the interactive and advanced computer graphics capabilities have become an invaluable aid to understanding the complex trajectories that exist in the multi-body problem.
......
[i] Analytical Graphics, Inc. web site at www.stk.com
-------------------------------------------

And another look at "The Astrogator's Guild"

-------------------------------------------
The Astrogator's Guild

Mike, John and other astrogators guide you through the gravity fields of space

LADEE Trajectory Update: 10-08-13

LADEE is now in its last rev in the 24 hour capture orbit, and preparing for LOI-2, which will lower the spacecraft into a 4 hr orbit.  LOI-2 is scheduled for 10:38 UTC (3:38 AM PDT) Wed. morning, Oct. 9. Here’s the view from LADEE to the Moon:


Some Orbital links

-------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------

As you may have noticed from the material, there are interested and talented personnel working behind the scenes on space missions. Hope you have some young ones coming up through the educational system that are being inspired to be creative. Got to help the granddaughter in first grade use spheres, cones, and tubes to make her idea of a Unicorn robot.

Thanks for looking up with me.  
- LRK -
===========================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -

===========================================
Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Update to my LADEE update

Daniel , in Germany, sent me an email with concerns about why more folks, especially space journalists, are not talking more about the LADEE mission. He suggested that "The Astrogator's Guild" should be on your reading list. (my paraphrasing)  See link below.

-------------------------------------------
The Astrogator's Guild

Mike, John and other astrogators guide you through the gravity fields of space

LADEE Trajectory Update: 10-08-13

LADEE is now in its last rev in the 24 hour capture orbit, and preparing for LOI-2, which will lower the spacecraft into a 4 hr orbit.  LOI-2 is scheduled for 10:38 UTC (3:38 AM PDT) Wed. morning, Oct. 9. Here’s the view from LADEE to the Moon:


Daniels website is in German, which you might also like to follow.

-------------------------------------------
Skyweek Zwei Punkt Null
-------------------------------------------

AGI makes the STK and ASTROGATOR program.

-------------------------------------------
AGI develops commercial modeling and analysis software for the space, defense and intelligence communities. Used by more than 40,000 engineers, operators and analysts worldwide, AGI software avoids the cost of reinvention, eliminates stovepipes and reduces risks associated with unproven tools.

NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft is in the nose-cone of the Minotaur V rocket, awaiting launch from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia tonight at 11:27 p.m. EDT. This mission marks many firsts—it’s the first spacecraft built in-house at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., without a prime contractor, the first launch of the U.S. Air Force’s five-stage Minotaur V vehicle, managed and operated by Orbital Sciences Corp., the first lunar mission flown by Orbital and the first lunar mission launched out of Wallops. According to the NASA website, this approximately 160-day “robotic mission will orbit the Moon to gather detailed information about the structure and composition of the thin lunar atmosphere and determine whether dust is being lofted into the lunar sky. Once launched, the spacecraft will enter into a series of phasing orbits that will allow it to approach the Moon from its leading edge, travel behind it and reemerge to execute a 3-minute Lunar Orbit Insertion maneuver that will place it in an elliptical retrograde equatorial orbit for 24 hours. A series of maneuvers will then be performed to reduce the orbit to nearly circular with a 156-mile altitude. After this, a 100-day Science Phase will commence, followed by a decommissioning period when the altitude will be lowered and the spacecraft will impact the lunar surface.”

 -------------------------------------------
And again, Wikepedia has a good run down on LADEE.

-------------------------------------------
Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment ExplorerThe Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is a NASA lunar exploration mission led by Ames Research Centerin collaboration with Goddard Space Flight Center. It was launched on a Minotaur V from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on September 7, 2013, at 03:27 UTC.[4] During its nominal 100-day scientific mission, LADEE will orbit around the Moon's equator, and use instruments aboard the spacecraft to study the lunar exosphere and dust in the Moon's vicinity. Instruments include a dust detector, a neutral mass spectrometer, and an ultraviolet-visible spectrometer, as well as a technology demonstration consisting of a lasercommunications terminal.[5] (see Free-space optical communication "lasercom")
-------------------------------------------

SFLIGHT101 has a very pictorial account on the LADEE mission if you have not seen.

-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
Thanks for looking up with me.  
- LRK -

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -

===========================================
Posted by at
Labels:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)