Category Archives: LRO

Tuesday / 11 February 2014

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4th International Workshop On Lunar Science Applications In Florida This April

LSA40214

8-11 April Event In Cocoa Beach, FL, USA Will Provide Overview Of Current Lunar Mission Data, Planned USA, Russia, GLXP Missions & Opportunities They May Provide For Secondary Payloads To Lunar Surface / Cislunar Space; LSA 4 Designed To Foster Collaboration Among Scientists, Engineers & Entrepreneurs To Solve Challenges Involved With Going To Moon & Beyond; Abstracts Due 28 Feb

Image Credit: lunarinitiatives.com, NASA, Moon Express

Wednesday / 15 January 2014

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LRO CRaTER Instrument Making Music From Cosmic Rays

CRaTERmusic0114

CRaTER Instrument Aboard LRO Continuing To Characterize Global Lunar Radiation Environment & Its Biological Impact; CRaTER Website Converts Data From The 6 Instrument Detectors Into Music; Music Shifts From Major To Minor & Main Instrument Transitions Among 8 Options From Piano To Banjo As Cosmic Ray Count Increases; CRaTER Data Critical For Human Moon Mission / Lunar Base Construction Preparations

Image Credit: NASA, Business Insider

 

Thursday / 19 December 2013

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USA Moon Orbiters Gather Data
From Chang’e-3 Landing

USAOrbiterStudyChinaLanding

LADEE Measuring Changes In Lunar Atmosphere Caused By Chang’e-3-Released Dust & Exhaust, Comparing To Baseline Data Collected During Full 29.5-Day Lunar Cycle Prior To China Arrival; LRO Scans Landing Site With LAMP Instrument Looking For Exhaust Plume Signature, LROC Able To Image Lander / Rover At ~2m / Pixel, Will Attempt Image On 24 Dec; ARTEMIS Spacecraft Look For Plume Signatures In Plasma & Magnetic Field 

Image Credit: NASA, CCTV

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 11-14 Oct 2013

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 LRO Preparing For Future
By Studying Past Missions

LROlanders1013

Imaging Of Historic Hardware / Landers On Moon Remains Important Area Of Study For LRO;  Photometric Modeling Of Exhaust Plume Effects On Regolith Environment Using LROC-NAC Images Taken With Different Illumination Geometries Help Define Safe Operational Practices For Future Landing Sites; LROC Investigators Hope To Advance This Study With Before & After Images Of Chang’e-3 Landing Site

Image Credit: NASA, CNSA

Tuesday / 17 September 2013

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LRO Continuing To Produce Valuable Data

LROdata15

Release #15 Of LRO Data Now Available At Planetary Data System Archive; New Data Was Acquired Between 15 Mar & 14 Jun 2013, From CRaTER, Diviner, LAMP, LEND, LOLA, LROC & SPICE Instruments; 6 More LRO Data Releases Scheduled, Final Release In Mar 2015; LROC WAC Data Used To Create Time-Lapse Video Of Full Rotation Of Moon

 Image Credit: NASA

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 16-19 Aug 2013

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Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter: 4 Years & Counting

LRO4Years

Innovative NASA Moon Orbiter Completes 3 Years Of Its Extended Science Mission, Additional Extension Likely As Probe Has Delivered Unprecedented Amount Of Data / Images; LRO Has Orbited Moon Over 18,000 Times, Traveling Over 200M Km, Produced Over 434 Terabytes Of Data, Laser Altimeter Conducted Over 6B Topographic Measurements; LRO Expected To Continue To Send Back Data Until Oct 2014, Though Additional 2 Years Possible

Image Credit: NASA

Thursday / 27 June 2013

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LRO Revealing History Of Lunar Exploration

PlesciaMappingLROC

Scientists Using LROC To Identify / Image Lost Moon Probes Notes Leonard David Of Space.com; LROC PI Mark Robinson & Johns Hopkins APL Professor Jeff Plescia (Inset) Searching For Soviet & NASA Luna Probes; Detection Could Help Determine Fate Of Failed Spacecraft Such As Luna 23 & Surveyor 4, Aid In Design Of Heritage Protection Plan

Image Credit: NASA

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 21-24 Jun 2013

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LROC Set To Observe Chang’e-3 Lander / Rover

LROCchange3

Preparations Accelerating For China Chang’e-3 Moon Lander (End 2013); LROC PI Mark Robinson Says It Is “Gratifying To Finally See An Exploration Vehicle Landing On The Moon”, Looks Forward To Imaging China Lander From 100km Above, Notes Moon Is 1st Step For Human Off-World Journey, Hopes NASA Will Also Have Lunar Surface Vehicles Soon; China To Begin Prototype Phase Of Chang’e-5 Sample Return Mission This Year  

Image Credit: CNSA, NASA, CLEP

Friday / 21 June 2013

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Free Lunar Workshops For Educators

Lunar Workshops

‘The Unknown Moon’ Workshop Hosted By JHU/APL & NLSI For High School Science Teachers On 24-28 Jun In Laurel MD; Will Provide Hands-On Classroom Resources, Tour Of Facilities, Opportunity To Interact With Lunar Scientists; ‘Lunar Workshops For Educators’ Hosted By LRO Mission Education & Public Outreach Program For Grade 6-9 Science Teachers On 24-28 Jun & 8-12 Jul In Greenbelt MD; Will Focus On Moon Science & Exploration

Image Credit: LRO E/PO, NASA, JHU/APL

Thursday / 20 June 2013

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Lunar Orbiter Data Shedding Light On Lunar Science

CratersAndH2

Australia Scientists Led By Will Featherstone (R) Use GRAIL Data To Identify 280 Lunar Craters Never Before Mapped, Create Ultra-High Resolution Gravity Map Of Moon; Andrew Jordan (L) & University Of New Hampshire Team Utilize LRO Data To Explain How Galactic Cosmic Rays Penetrate Lunar Regolith & Transform Water Ice Into Molecular Hydrogen; Explanation Could Account For 10-100% Of Molecular Hydrogen Discovered By LAMP Instrument 

Image Credit: NASA, University Of New Hampshire, Curtin University of Technology