Showing posts with label LCROSS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LCROSS. Show all posts

Thursday, October 21, 2010

NASA Missions Uncover The Moon's Buried Treasures

In the news for those that are still looking up.
What was it was said about missions to Mars, follow the water.
Hmmm, could we say the same for the Moon, follow the water.

Now will someone look for an ice cave or investigate some of those holes in the Moon.
http://www.universetoday.com/73659/lro-takes-closer-look-at-moon-caves/
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/oct/HQ_10-271_LCROSS_LRO.html
NASA Missions Uncover The Moon's Buried Treasures


RELEASE: 10-271
Oct. 21, 2010

Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1979
michael.j.braukus@nasa.gov

WASHINGTON -- Nearly a year after announcing the discovery of water molecules on the moon, scientists Thursday revealed new data uncovered by NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO.

The missions found evidence that the lunar soil within shadowy craters is rich in useful materials, and the moon is chemically active and has a water cycle. Scientists also confirmed the water was in the form of mostly pure ice crystals in some places. The results are featured in six papers published in the Oct. 22 issue of Science.

"NASA has convincingly confirmed the presence of water ice and characterized its patchy distribution in permanently shadowed regions of the moon," said Michael Wargo, chief lunar scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "This major undertaking is the one of many steps NASA has taken to better understand our solar system, its resources, and its origin, evolution, and future."

The twin impacts of LCROSS and a companion rocket stage in the moon's Cabeus crater on Oct. 9, 2009, lifted a plume of material that might not have seen direct sunlight for billions of years. As the plume traveled nearly 10 miles above the rim of Cabeus, instruments aboard LCROSS and LRO made observations of the crater and debris and vapor clouds. After the impacts, grains of mostly pure water ice were lofted into the sunlight in the vacuum of space.

"Seeing mostly pure water ice grains in the plume means water ice was somehow delivered to the moon in the past, or chemical processes have been causing ice to accumulate in large quantities," said Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS project scientist and principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "Also, the diversity and abundance of certain materials called volatiles in the plume, suggest a variety of sources, like comets and asteroids, and an active water cycle within the lunar shadows."

snip
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As posted at. Science NASA.
- LRK -

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http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/21oct_lcross2/
Lunar Impact Uncovered More Than Just Moon Water
Oct. 21, 2010:  Nearly a year after announcing the discovery of water molecules on the moon, scientists have revealed new data uncovered by NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO—and it's more than just water.
The missions found evidence that lunar soil within shadowy craters is rich in useful materials. Moreover, the moon appears to be chemically active and has a full-fledged water cycle. Scientists also confirmed that 'moon water' was in the form of mostly pure ice crystals in some places.
These results are featured in six papers published in the Oct. 22 issue of Science.
The twin impacts of LCROSS and a companion rocket stage in the moon's Cabeus crater on Oct. 9, 2009, lifted a plume of material that might not have seen direct sunlight for billions of years. As the plume traveled nearly 10 miles above the crater’s rim, instruments aboard LCROSS and LRO made observations of the crater and debris and vapor clouds. After the impacts, grains of mostly pure water ice were lofted into the sunlight in the vacuum of space.
"Seeing mostly pure water ice grains in the plume means water ice was somehow delivered to the moon in the past, or chemical processes have been causing ice to accumulate in large quantities," said Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS project scientist and principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center.
In addition to water, the plume contained "volatiles." These are compounds that freeze in the cold lunar craters and vaporize easily when warmed by the sun. The suite of LCROSS and LRO instruments determined as much as 20 percent of the material kicked up by the LCROSS impact was volatiles, including methane, ammonia, hydrogen gas, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.
[See image at link - LRK -]
Experiment . The map contains several intensely cold impact craters that could trap water ice and other icy compounds commonly observed in comets. The approximate maximum temperatures at which these compounds would be frozen in place for more than a billion years are noted at right.
 [larger image    http://science.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2010/10/21/southpole.jpg ]

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For more information about LCROSS, a complete list of the papers and their authors, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/lcross

For more information about the LRO mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/lro

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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/multimedia/index.html
LCROSS Multimedia

LCROSS Mission team - 27 images..

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LRO mission link.
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/main/index.html
LRO: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter The LRO mission objectives are to find safe landing sites, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment, and demonstrate new technology.
NASA Hosts Media Telecon Featuring Results of Moon Mission Impact

NASAl hosted a media teleconference at 2 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 21, to discuss additional findings from NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, and NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, missions.

The results will be featured in six papers published in the Oct. 22 issue of the journal Science.
snip
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LRO Mission at Goddard Space Flight Center
http://lro.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Lunar Impact May Impact Lunar Science For Years To Come
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-345

Moon Crater Map Reveals Early Solar System History
Read More http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/09/moon-map/?pid=237&viewall=true#ixzz132TuQaqi

I shot an arrow into the air, it landed, I know not where.
I launched a rocket to the Moon, for profit, and soon.
http://www.asi.org/adb/02/07/lunacity-hotel.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_Project
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
=============================================

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

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Saturday, December 5, 2009

LCROSS Science Briefing November 13th 2009

One advantage to social networking is being able to see what others have seen that you may ave missed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xVlBa6YKH4
- LRK -
-----
Bob_Richards

RT @NASA_Ames: [News] @LCROSS_NASA team Press Conference http://bit.ly/6QW8wR
[splashdown results, intro by Pete @Worden]
-----
The LCROSS Press Conference on YouTube is an hour and 20 minutes with the first 31 minutes the presentation the rest devoted to questions and answers.

I found it interesting and you could sense the excitement of the preseters.

Watching it brought back fond memories of sitting in the same auditorium when I was working at NASA Ames Research Center.

A Facebook link about LCROSS
- LRK -

http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=154478180006&share_id=175094893166&comments=1
Links on "LCROSS Lunar Impactor Mission"

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/main/prelim_water_results.html
LCROSS Impact Data Indicates Water on Moon

It will be interesting to see what develops as a result of spacecraft orbiting the Moon and finding more about our nearest neighbor.

We will wait for the results from the LRO mission and how their data complements what is being seen from LCROSS.
http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/

http://www.examiner.com/x-958-Tampa-Space-Program-News-Examiner~y2009m11d13-LROLCROSS-Mission-a-success--Water-on-the-moon
http://article.wn.com/view/2009/11/13/LRO_LCROSS_Mission_a_success_Water_on_the_moon_puts_moonfirs/
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/sci-tech/indias-lunar-mission-finds-water-on-moon-roundup_100251903.html

Exciting times and next year should be interesting too.

I hope the excitement finds its way into the ears of our Congress as well.

http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/344612main_Agency_Summary_Final_updates_5_6_09_R2.pdf
NASA FY 2010 Budget Request Summary

Mother may I have a cookie? Have you eaten all of your dinner?
Now where was the cookie jar hidden?

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
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Twitter: http://twitter.com/lrkellogg
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https://wave.google.com/wave/
============================================

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

============================================

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

LCROSS: Mission to HYPErspace

Paul D. Spudis wrote some comments about the LCROSS mission and the reactions to the lack of a plume.

- LRK -
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http://blogs.airspacemag.com/moon/2009/10/12/lcross-a-mission-to-hyperspace/
October 12, 2009

LCROSS: Mission to HYPErspace

Early last Friday, the public and families of employees at Ames Research Center in California, where the LCROSS mission was conceived, built and operated, camped on the lawn in an all-night vigil. NASA’s educational outreach and public relations push about the pending lunar impact event was very effective, having reached a wide audience in the weeks leading up to the much hyped event. Alas, the promised giant plume of impact debris was invisible from Earth, leaving a receptive public feeling cheated and disappointed.

The understanding that a high-velocity impactor can yield important information about planetary composition and state is very old. The first probes to the Moon (both Soviet and American) were impactors. We know that when something strikes a planetary surface at high speed, target material is thrown up into space, some of it vaporized by heat generated in the energy of the impact. By studying this impact ejecta, we learn about the composition of the target object.

I didn’t post on it earlier, but as the LCROSS mission has successfully concluded, I think it is a good time to examine this mission, how it came about, and the lessons that hopefully it has taught NASA about public appeal and its involvement with space.
snip
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Dr. Spudis mentions some of the history of how the LCROSS mission came about and how some had wanted to land rovers or hoppers. Even if water itself is detected more might have been detected with instrumentation on the ground. Then again, landing rovers or hoppers this early without more information from the LRO mapping might not have done any better.

The comments left on his blog are most interesting as well. You may find them informative.
- LRK -

So now the question will be, do we do it right and send rovers to the Moon later.
Missions get proposed and before they get far they may be switched, modified or dropped for others.

Just not enough money to do everything you would like. And then there is politics.

http://www.spacenews.com/archive/archive06/smalllanders_0814.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Precursor_Robotic_Program
http://moon.msfc.nasa.gov/background.html

Some have accused NASA of BOMBING the Moon. Not so, but is something to consider.
- LRK -
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http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/12/nasa-bombing-the-moon-opinions-contributors-kenneth-anderson-glenn-harlan-reynolds.html?partner=commentary_newsletter
Tiny URL for above link - http://tinyurl.com/yhdkzcn
Commentary
Bombing The Moon
Kenneth Anderson and Glenn Harlan Reynolds, 10.13.09, 12:00 AM EDT
Laws and treaties on explosions in space.

The rocket that NASA aimed at the Moon last week did not produce the public relations bonanza the agency was hoping for--a cloud of dust visible to amateur earth astronomers. But early accounts suggest the explosions did produce a wealth of scientific data on the presence and distribution of water-ice in the dust, which is an important practical factor if humans are ever to spend much time there. The presence of accessible lunar water would mean not having to haul all our own H2O out of Earth's deep gravity well.

The LCROSS mission is an important and expensive scientific experiment. Nonetheless, comments on Web sites such as Scientific American and Nature indicate that quite a few people thought the whole venture to be some sort of outer-space vandalism. Some even wondered whether NASA might have acted illegally or violated an international law or treaty by setting out to "bomb the Moon."

The answer is no. But while many might be surprised--dismayed, even--to hear that there is such a thing as "space law," there are treaties governing activities in outer space, including the Moon. The United States has joined four international agreements that regulate different questions about space activities. The Outer Space Treaty (dating back to 1967, not long before the first lunar landing) covers many aspects of humans in space, including the peaceful uses of space.

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The subject of space law is going to come up over and over. It will be a subject that needs to be dealt with as we inhabit off world places.
- 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
=============================================

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

=============================================

Friday, October 9, 2009

NASA SPACECRAFT IMPACTS LUNAR CRATER IN SEARCH FOR WATER ICE

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/oct/HQ_09-236_LCROSS.html
Oct. 9, 200
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grey Hautaluoma/Ashley Edwards
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0668/1756
grey.hautaluoma-1@nasa.gov
ashley.edwards-1@nasa.gov

Jonas Dino
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-5612
jonas.dino@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 09-236

NASA SPACECRAFT IMPACTS LUNAR CRATER IN SEARCH FOR WATER ICE

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, created twin impacts on the moon's surface early Friday in a search for water ice. Scientists will analyze data from the spacecraft's instruments to assess whether water ice is present.

The satellite traveled 5.6 million miles during an historic 113-day mission that ended in the Cabeus crater, a permanently shadowed region near the moon's south pole. The spacecraft was launched June 18 as a companion mission to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

"The LCROSS science instruments worked exceedingly well and returned a wealth of data that will greatly improve our understanding of our closest celestial neighbor," said Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS principal investigator and project scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "The team is excited to dive into data."

In preparation for impact, LCROSS and its spent Centaur upper stage rocket separated about 54,000 miles above the surface of the moon on Thursday at approximately 6:50 p.m. PDT.

Moving at a speed of more than 1.5 miles per second, the Centaur hit the lunar surface shortly after 4:31 a.m. Oct. 9, creating an impact that instruments aboard LCROSS observed for approximately four minutes. LCROSS then impacted the surface at approximately 4:36 a.m.

"This is a great day for science and exploration," said Doug Cooke, associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The LCROSS data should prove to be an impressive addition to the tremendous leaps in knowledge about the moon that have been achieved in recent weeks. I want to congratulate the LCROSS team for their tremendous achievement in development of this low cost spacecraft and for their perseverance through a number of difficult technical and operational challenges."


Other observatories reported capturing both impacts. The data will be shared with the LCROSS science team for analysis. The LCROSS team expects it to take several weeks of analysis before it can make a definitive assessment of the presence or absence of water ice.

"I am very proud of the success of this LCROSS mission team," said Daniel Andrews, LCROSS project manager at Ames. "Whenever this team would hit a roadblock, it conceived a clever work-around allowing us to push forward with a successful mission."

The images and video collected by the amateur astronomer community and the public also will be used to enhance our knowledge about the moon.


"One of the early goals of the mission was to get as many people to look at the LCROSS impacts in as many ways possible, and we succeeded," said Jennifer Heldmann, Ames' coordinator of the LCROSS observation campaign. "The amount of corroborated information that can be pulled out of this one event is fascinating."

"It has been an incredible journey since LCROSS was selected in April 2006," said Andrews. "The LCROSS Project faced a very ambitious schedule and an uncommonly small budget for a mission of this size. LCROSS could be a model for how small robotic missions are executed.
This is truly big science on a small budget."

For more information about the LCROSS mission, including images and video, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/lcross

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Stay tuned for the data reduction - it will all be in the numbers.
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lrkellogg
============================================

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

============================================

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

LCROSS - Lunar Impact coming up 7:31 a.m. EDT/4:31 a.m. PDT Friday Oct. 9, 2009

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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/main/index.html
LCROSS Lunar Impact 7:31 a.m. EDT/4:31 a.m. PDT Friday Oct. 9

A live NASA TV Broadcast is planned for the LCROSS impacts starting at
6:15 a.m. EDT/3:15 a.m. PDT, Oct. 9, on NASA TV and www.nasa.gov/ntv.

The 1.5 hour broadcast includes:
Live footage from spacecraft camera
Real-time telemetry based animation
Views of LCROSS Mission and Science Operations
Broadcast commentary with expert guests
Prepared video segments
Views of the public impact viewing event at NASA Ames
Possible live footage from the University of Hawaii, 88-inch telescope
on Mauna Kea.
The live LCROSS Post-Impact News Conference will be 10 a.m. EDT/7 a.m.
PDT on NASA TV and www.nasa.gov/ntv.
---------------------

Geoff asked if the fuel used in LCROSS would contaminate the expected readings when the upper stage of the Atlas crashes into the Moon.

The Centaur burns liquid hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen (LOX) so sounds like a good question.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaur_(rocket_stage)

I didn't know the answer so went looking and I must confess had not read the LCROSS blog site.

Here is their blog with a history time line and looks like they are trying to make sure their is no water on the booster stage.
- LRK -

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http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/lcrossfdblog
snip
DOY 267 (September 24): Cold Side Bakeout #3 and a Test of the –Z MGA

Despite previous efforts to rid the Centaur outer skin of water on Cold Side Bakeout #1 and #2, our Navigation team continued to observe the accelerating effects of escaping water at the end of the second of those events. With the amounts of water remaining, the Science Team was no longer concerned that this water could interfere with water measurements at Impact – there was just too little left. However, Navigation was still concerned that remaining water might push our Centaur off course in the hours before Impact, after Separation when we no longer had any control over its orbit.

Recall that we had planned to execute Cold Side Bakeout #3 on DOY 234 (August 22), but our plans were thwarted by the discovery of the anomaly. Cold Side Bakeout #3 was unfinished business that had to be completed. In an unrelated thread, we also wanted to test the antenna we’d be using for Impact. LCROSS has two Medium Gain Antennas (MGA’s), one on the +Z axis, the other on the –Z axis, used to downlink high-speed science data to Earth. We had used the +Z MGA during Lunar Swingby, but had never tested the –Z MGA in flight. We didn’t want to discovera problem with this antenna in the hours before impact, so we devised a test that would expose any issues immediately, and that would couple very nicely with Cold Side Bakeout #3.

The combined Cold Side Bakeout #3 and –Z MGA Test took advantage of the fact that LCROSS was passing right through the ecliptic plane, the plane of the Earth’s orbit around the sun. The LCROSS +X axis was perpendicular to the ecliptic plane at the time, and so by rotating about the +X (roll) axis, we could simultaneously face the “cold side” of the Centaur towards the sun, and the –Z MGA towards the Earth (required to test communications via this antenna). It was a
perfectly-timed opportunity.

On DOY 267 (September 24), we performed the maneuver. Unlike previous versions of Cold Side Bakeout, we stopped the spacecraft twice, once at 135 degrees rotation, and again at 225 degrees. The first position pointed the –Z MGA (which is canted by 45 degrees) straight at the
Earth, and warmed one side of the cold skin of the Centaur. After 20 minutes, LCROSS rotated another 90 degrees, moving the MGA off the Earth, and moving another part of the cold face of the Centaur into full sunlight. We characterized one “slice” of the –Z MGA antenna gain pattern, confirmed that it was operational and mounted according to specification, and removed more water from our impactor.

One of the risks of Cold Side Bakeouts is that we might induce athermal instability in our thrusters, as we had in Cold Side Bakeout #1, prompting our improvised fault management to fire the thrusters to keep them warm (see the post entitled “Our First Orbit Around the
Earth” for details). Happily, our thrusters remained thermally stable, and we avoided any additional propellant cost.

snip
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http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/lcrossfdblog.blog/posts/index_2.html
Welcome Posted on May 09, 2009 02:53:46 PM | Paul.D Tompkins
Welcome everyone to the first installment of the LCROSS Flight Blog! LCROSS stands for Lunar Crater and Observation and Sensing Satellite. It is one of two spacecraft launching to the moon in June of 2009, as part of a coordinated effort to explore the moon in unprecedented detail, in preparation for human missions in the not-so-distant future. If you’re not familiar with the mission concept, I’d suggest you start with our project website:

http://lcross.arc.nasa.gov

or

http://www.nasa.gov/lcross

What you may not know is that LCROSS does not fly all by itself. During our mission, a team, called the Mission Operations Team (or Flight Team for short), will remotely operate the spacecraft from NASA Ames Research Center in the Bay Area in California, as well as from
other operations facilities around the country and around the world.

My name is Paul Tompkins, and I’m the Flight Team Leader and one of the Flight Directors for the LCROSS mission. In this blog, I’ll do my best to describe what it’s like to be a part of this team. I’ll be posting as often as possible as the LCROSS launch date approaches, and during the mission to provide play-by-play updates of the mission. Above all, I hope I can convey the excitement all of us on the teamare all feeling, and to get you excited about the moon!

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First time I had seen the blog. Looks like an interesting read.
Nothing like the thrill of a good anomaly. :-)
- LRK -

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http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/lcrossfdblog.blog/posts/index.html
Once More Around the Earth: September 4 - October 5 Posted on Oct 05, 2009 03:14:59 PM | Paul.D Tompkins The anomaly robbed the LCROSS Flight Team of precious time to prepare
for Impact. But with a healthy spacecraft, and enough propellant to do the job, our team was all too happy to prepare for the future. Ahead of us were five more Trajectory Correction Maneuvers (TCM 6 – 10) to precisely refine our crater targeting, then Separation, Centaur
Observation, Braking Burn, and finally, Impact. In the midst of our TCM series, the Science Team continued refining their selection our target – the specific crater, and the point within the crater - based on the latest data from other missions. As a final confirmation of the payload instruments, the Science Team also wanted to look at Earth one last time before Impact. On top of all that, we needed topractice those final two critical days as much as we could.

DOY 247-251 (September 4 – 8): Housekeeping

Out of Emergency Status, we resumed operations gradually, monitoring spacecraft health and performing typical housekeeping duties. Of special note, as a result of the anomaly and our very small propellant margin, we decided to substitute Earth Look Cal 2, originally scheduled for DOY 250 (September 7), with a new, more propellant-efficient calibration maneuver that we termed “Earth Gaze”, on DOY 261 (September 18; see below).

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Brings back memories I have of the Lunar Prospector Mission.
Marcie Smith wrote the lunar-update log which got posted to the lunar-update list, and here we are, just a few years later. :-)
- LRK -

--------------------------------
http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/resources/mail.htm

Automatic Email sender: During the mission the lunar-update list provided weekly status reports. Now that the mission has ended the list is no longer being maintained.

The complete Status Report archive in an Adobe Acrobat Reader PDF file.
LPStatus.pdf (255 kb PDF file)
http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/project/pdf/LPStatus.pdf
--------------------------------

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lrkellogg
=============================================

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

=============================================

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Lunar Impact Viewer's Guide

A very early film had folks riding to the Moon in a shell that was shot from Florida, USA.
The Moon is shown with a big bullet hitting in its eye.

Coming up on October 9th, 2009, the Moon is going to get hit again, but maybe not in its eye.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/05oct_lcrossvg.htm?list965414

---------------------------------------------
Lunar Impact Viewer's Guide

NASA Science News for October 5, 2009
On Friday morning, Oct. 9th, you can watch a pair of spacecraft crash into the Moon with your own eyes. The purposeful impacts are the climax of NASA's LCROSS mission to unearth signs of water in lunar soil. Today's story tells how and where to look.

FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/05oct_lcrossvg.htm?list965414

Check out our RSS feed at http://science.nasa.gov/rss.xml!
-----------------------------
snip
The impact site is crater Cabeus near the Moon's south pole. NASA is guiding the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite ("LCROSS" for short) and its Centaur booster rocket into the crater's floor for a spectacular double-impact designed to "unearth" signs of lunar water.

There are two ways to watch the show.

First, turn on NASA TV. The space agency will broadcast the action live from the Moon, with coverage beginning Friday morning at 3:15 am PDT (10:15 UT). The first hour or so, pre-impact, will offer expert commentary, status reports from mission control, camera views from the spacecraft, and telemetry-based animations.

The actual impacts commence at 4:30 am PDT (11:30 UT). The Centaur rocket will strike first, transforming 2200 kg of mass and 10 billion joules of kinetic energy into a blinding flash of heat and light. Researchers expect the impact to throw up a plume of debris as high as 10 km.

Close behind, the LCROSS mothership will photograph the collision for NASA TV and then fly right through the debris plume. Onboard spectrometers will analyze the sunlit plume for signs of water (H2O), water fragments (OH), salts, clays, hydrated minerals and assorted organic molecules.

snip

And that brings us to the second way to see the show: Grab your telescope.

"We expect the debris plumes to be visible through mid-sized backyard telescopes—10 inches and larger," says Brian Day of NASA/Ames. Day is an amateur astronomer and the Education and Public Outreach Lead for LCROSS. "The initial explosions will probably be hidden behind crater walls, but the plumes will rise high enough above the crater's rim to be seen from Earth."

The Pacific Ocean and western parts of North America are favored with darkness and a good view of the Moon at the time of impact. Hawaii is the best place to be, with Pacific coast states of the USA a close second. Any place west of the Mississippi River, however, is a potential observing site.
snip
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A lot of folks had fun looking for signs of the Lunar Prospector crash into the Moon with little to show for it except the experience of looking up.

Maybe a better chance this time although the Moon will be bright in your telescope.
- LRK -

UNLESS -
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Adios, Star People
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NASA's LCROSS spacecraft is on track to hit a crater on the Moon early Friday. Dwayne Day imagines the mission as a cover for something more belligerent in this short story.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1478/1

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Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
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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Thursday, June 25, 2009

LRO Enters Orbit Around the Moon

http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/

While I was away watching a grandson get married, we went to the Moon. :-)

After all these years of waiting, it happens.
- LRK -

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http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/

LRO Enters Orbit Around the Moon
June 23 - After a successful insertion rocket burn on the morning of June
23, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's orbit was established shortly before
6:30 a.m. EDT.

Rocket burns initiated by controllers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
in Greenbelt, Md., have helped the moon capture LRO, which arrived after a
five-day journey.

Now LRO begins its primary mission of mapping the lunar surface to find
future landing sites and searching for resources that would make possible a
permanent human presence on the moon.

Over the next several days, LRO's instruments will be turned on and its
final orbit around the moon will be reached.
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and along for the ride is LCROSS
- LRK -

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http://lcross.arc.nasa.gov/

On Tuesday, June 23,
LCROSS executed a swingby of the Moon.

LCROSS reached periselene, its closest approach, at 10:30:33 UT, with the
spacecraft passing 1,988 miles (3200 km) from the Moon. The flyby resulted
in a gravity assist from the Moon which put LCROSS into its cruise Lunar
Gravity Assist Lunar Return Orbit (LGALRO).

The swingby also provided mission scientists with an opportunity for
instrument calibration and the return of images from the far side of the
Moon.
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How long had we waited for the Japanese mission SELENE to go to the Moon and
it too has now finished.
http://www.kaguya.jaxa.jp/en/communication/KAGUYA_Lunar_Impact_e.htm

I guess you don't dare blink or events will pass you by.

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
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Friday, June 5, 2009

NASA SETS LUNAR SPACECRAFT LAUNCH COVERAGE EVENTS

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http://tinyurl.com/oosy4b

NASA SETS LUNAR SPACECRAFT LAUNCH COVERAGE EVENTS

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, spacecraft are set to launch together to the moon aboard an Atlas V rocket on June 17. Three launch opportunities from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., are at 3:51 p.m., 4:01 p.m. and 4:11 p.m. EDT. NASA Television's coverage of the launch will begin at 1 p.m. EDT.

If the launch is postponed 24 hours, the launch times on June 18 are 5:12 p.m., 5:22 p.m. and 5:32 p.m.
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Counting Down.
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/main/index.html
LRO Team Gets Visit from Apollo 17's Jack Schmitt

Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison "Jack" Schmitt visited NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., on June 3 for an interview with Fox News as part of an upcoming feature commemorating this July's 40th anniversary of the first moon landing.

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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 ==============================================================