Category Archives: LADEE

Wednesday / 7 August 2013

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LADEE Missions To Demonstrate Revolutionary New Communication System

LLCD0813

Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD) System Ready For Launch On LADEE Mission After Series Of Successful Ground Tests; ESA Observatory In Spain & 2 US Ground Terminals Will Relay Data To The Moon Orbiter At Unprecedented Rates (622 Mbps); Laser Wavelengths 10,000 Times Shorter Than Radio, Allowing For Reduction In Antenna Size – Lowering Mass, Volume, Power Requirements Of Future Space Missions; LADEE Launching 6 Sep 2013

Image Credit: NASA

Tuesday / 2 July 2013

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LADEE Mission Seeks Help From Amateur Astronomers

LadeeAmateurNight

LADEE Teaming Up With ALPO Lunar Meteoritic Impact Search Program In Call To Watch For Impacts On Moon; Dedicated Amateurs Require Telescope With Minimum 20cm Aperture, Video Recording Equipment, LunarScan Program, Ability To Continually Monitor Moon During Lunar Night; Micro-Meteoroid Issues Of Crucial Importance For Long-Duration Human Habitation Of Moon; LADEE To Launch 5 Sep, 1st Mission From Wallops Island VA To Venture Beyond LEO

Image Credit: NASA

Wednesday / 5 Jun 2013

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Next USA Moon Orbiter Passes Tests In Preparation For Launch

LADEEnts0613

LADEE Passes Series Of Qualification Tests Conducted By National Technical Systems Inc At NASA Ames In CA; Spacecraft Subjected To High Levels Of Acoustics, Vibration & Shock Mimicking Launch / Space Travel, Is Now One Step Closer To 5 Sep 2013 Launch; Mission Will Utilize 3 Science Instruments To Gather Data On Lunar Atmosphere / Dust Environment From 50-Km Retrograde Equatorial Orbit

Image Credit: NASA, NTS

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 15-18 Mar 2013

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Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration Ready For Launch

LLCD0313

Rigorous Testing & Integration Of LLCD System On LADEE Spacecraft Complete; Technology Demonstration Will See Data Sent From Lunar Orbit To Earth At Up To 622 Mbps – 6 Times The Rate Of Advanced Radio Communication Systems; Hundreds Of Millions Of Short Infrared Pulses Sent Precisely Every Second To Any One Of 3 Ground Telescopes In New Mexico, California & Spain; LADEE To Launch In Aug 2013

Image Credit: NASA

Wednesday / 30 January 2013

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Destination Moon

RoboticVillageMoon

International Lunar Activity Gaining Momentum In 2010s As China Prepares For Chang’e-3,4,5 Lunar Lander Missions In 2013, 2015, 2017; Russia Luna-Glob Orbiter In 2015, Luna-Glob / Luna-Resurs Polar Landers in 2016, 2017; USA LADEE Orbiter In 2013; India Chandrayaan-2 Lander ~2015; Japan SELENE-2 Lander ~2018; Private Enterprise GLXP Landers 2014-2015, ILO-1 Lander 2015-2016, Golden Spike Company Human Mission ~2019

Credit: Dwayne Day – The Space Review

Image Credit: Corby Waste, fourth-millennium.net

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 18-21 Jan 2013

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Mona Lisa Used For LRO Laser Communication Test

MonaLisaLRO

Leonardo da Vinci Masterpiece Used For First-Ever One-Way Laser Communication At Planetary Distance; Black & White 152 X 200 Pixel Image, Beamed From NASA Goddard SFC To LRO LOLA Instrument 386,000km Away At Slow Rate Of 300 Bits / Second; Experiment Allowed For Calibration Of Atmospheric Distortion In Preparation For LLCD Experiment On LADEE; Laser Communication Holds Promise Of Bringing Live, HD Video Feeds From Jupiter & Beyond

Image Credit: NASA

Friday / 4 January 2013

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Next NASA Moon Orbiter

LADEE0113

LADEE Spacecraft Scheduled For Launch Via 5-Stage Minotaur 5 Rocket On 12 August From Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport On Wallops Island, VA; 3 Main Science Instruments Recently Integrated On Craft: Ultraviolet & Visible Light Spectrometer, Neutral Mass Spectrometer, Lunar Dust Experiment; Mission Will Pioneer NASA Modular Common Bus Architecture, Also Set For Use By Moon Express GLXP Mission

Image Credit: NASA

Wednesday / 19 December 2012

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USA Moon Missions Update

USAMoonOrbiters1212

With Crash Landing Of Twin GRAIL Craft Into Side Of Mountain Near Lunar North Pole, USA / NASA Now Has 3 Probes Orbiting Moon (LRO & Artemis); Next Orbital Mission – Lunar Atmosphere & Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) – Set For Launch May 2013; Since Ending Apollo NASA Has Conducted 6 Crash Landings (4 Missions) On Moon Surface, 0 Soft Landings

Image Credit: NASA

Tuesday / 4 December 2012

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LADEE LLCD Test Could Revolutionize Lunar Communications

Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration (LLCD) Set For Next Aug As Payload On NASA LADEE Spacecraft; Optical Communications Via High-Bandwidth Laser Light Allow For More Data Transmission For Same Power As Radio; LLCD Mission Manager Donald Cornwell Says They Hope To Demonstrate 622 mbps From Moon, Compared To 100 mbps Ka-Band Radio Communications Utilized By LRO

Image Credit: NASA, LinkedIn