Category Archives: Lunar Orbiters

Thursday / 31 July 2014

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SLS Maiden Voyage To Deliver Cubesats To Moon

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11 Cubesats Will Be Delivered To Cislunar Space On First Uncrewed Mission Of SLS Rocket / Orion Capsule In Late 2017; 3 Missions Have Already Been Selected Including Lunar Flashlight; Led By Barbara Cohen Of NASA Marshall SFC; Mission Will Utilize 80m² Solar Sail To Navigate Into A Highly Elliptical Lunar Polar Orbit That Passes Near Moon South Pole, Solar Sail Will Then Be Redirected To Shine 50kW Of Sunlight Into Shaded Craters While On-Board Spectrometer Measures Surface Reflection & Composition; Data Will Identify Sites With Ample Volatiles Near Surface Ideal For More Expansive Lander / Rover / Human Missions

Image Credit: NASA, Rob Staehle

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 20-23 June 2014

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LRO Enters 6th Year In Good Health, Uncertain Future

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23 June Will Mark 5 Years In Lunar Orbit For LRO; All 7 Instruments Continue To Provide Valuable Scientific Moon Data & Craft Has Generous Reserve Of Fuel; Funding For 2-Year Mission Extension Dependent On Results Of Ongoing NASA Biannual Senior Review Of Ongoing Missions, Results Expected This Month; Mission Extension Would Cost ~US$8M Annually, Continued Operations Could Be Invaluable To Future Human / Robotic Moon Missions

Image Credit: NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 6-9 June 2014

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LRO Has More Work To Do After 5 Productive Years

LROsymphony

With A Generous Reserve Of Fuel And 7 Instruments Performing “Like A Finely Tuned Symphony” LRO Still A Valuable Tool For Planetary Science / Exploration; Preliminary Goals For Proposed 2nd Extended Mission Include: Evaluate Nature Of Thermophysical Differences Between Permanently Shaded Regions & Rest Of Moon, Complete Mapping (0.5-2m / Pixel) Of Non-Polar Regions, Continue Longitudinal Studies Of Changes On Moon (Impact Cratering Rate, etc), Increase Scientific Productivity Of Future Lunar Surface Missions; Pictured R-L: LRO Project Scientist Richard Vondrak & Project Manager Craig Tooley

Image Credit: NASA

Wednesday / 28 May 2014

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LRO Celebrates Moon As Art For 5th Anniversary

LROmoonArt

Public Invited By NASA To Select Cover Image For ‘The Moon As Art’ LRO Image Collection, Voting Open Until 6 June; Finalists: Starry Night, Clerke Crater, Diviner North Pole, Linne Crater & Tycho Central Peak; Full Collection Of 24 Images Will Be Released On 18 June, 5th Anniversary Of LRO Launch; The Future Of LRO Remains Uncertain, Mission Could End Sep 2014 Or Be Extended 2 More Years; Fate Will Likely Be Determined By Results Of Biennial NASA Senior Review Expected In June 

Image Credit: NASA

Friday / 23 May 2014

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LADEE Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration Performance To Be Detailed

LLCD 2014

New Comprehensive Overview Of LLCD To Be Presented At CLEO 2014 Conference 8-13 June By Team From MIT Lincoln Laboratory (Developer Of Primary Lunar Laser Ground Terminal); Will Describe Techniques To Achieve Error-Free Performance Over ~400,000km Distance / Atmospheric Disturbances; Transmitted Data From Earth To Moon At 19.44 Megabits Per Second – Beat Previous Record By Factor Of 4,800; Significant For Moon & Beyond Missions, Real-Time Communication & 3-D HD Video

Image Credit: NASA

Tuesday / 29 April 2014

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ISEE-3 Reboot Project To Include Moon Flyby

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LOIRP Team Leaders Dennis Wingo (T) & Keith Cowing (B) Heading Up Crowdfunding Project To Reactivate Comet-Chasing Probe ISEE-3; Team Has Already Raised Over 40% Of The US$125,000 Goal, Needs To Have Funds / Contact Probe By Mid-May, Complete Orbit Change Maneuvers No Later Than Mid-June 2014, Those Maneuvers Will Include Flyby Of Moon At 50-Km Altitude; If Successful, 479-Kg Probe Will Be Directed To Study A Nearby Comet, All New Data From 13 Craft Instruments Will Be Crowdsourced 

Image Credit: Rockethub.com, SpaceRef, Crowdfunder.com

Tuesday / 22 April 2014

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Old Moon, New Moon Lecture At Carnegie Institute

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Maria Zuber Of MIT Will Give Lecture Today Entitled ‘Old Moon, New Moon‘ At The Carnegie Institute For Science In Washington DC; Dr Zuber Will Describe How Understanding Of The Moon Evolved With GRAIL Mission Data – Surprisingly Low Density (2550 Kg / M³) & Thickness (34-43 Km) Of Lunar Crust – & How Studying The Moon Provides Insight Into How Other Rocky Planets Formed / Developed

Image Credit: MIT, NASA, Carnegie Institute for Science

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 18-21 April 2014

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LADEE Spacecraft Meets End,
Science Data Analysis Continues

LADEE Spacecraft End

LADEE Orbiting At ~5,793kph Collected Valuable Science Data & Mimicked Surveyor / Apollo ‘Twilight Ray’ Observations With Star Tracker At ~91-Meter Altitude Prior To Far-Side Impact 17 Apr Between 21:30-22:22 PDT, Possibly Smashing Into Lunar Crater Or Mountain Ridge; Will Take More Than 1 Year To Analyze Successful US$280M Mission Data Including LDEX Characterization Of Ejecta Cloud & Perturbations From Chang’e-3 Landing; Completion Of 5th USA Moon Orbiter Mission Since Apollo Era, No Controlled Landings Achieved After 1972

Pictured: NASA Administrator Charles Bolden & part of the LADEE Team

Image Credit: NASA

Friday / 18 April 2014

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Lunar Orbiters Survive Eclipse With Flying Colors

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LRO Survives 2 Consecutive Orbits Going Straight From Moon Shadow To Earth Shadow; LRO Twitter Account Reports Probe Instruments Dropped To 15° C; Engineers Were Less Confident That LADEE Would Survive Cold, In Normal Orbit Probe Is Deprived Of Sunlight For 1 Hour, During Eclipse It Survived 4 Hours Of Shadow; Mission Team Received Yellow Then Red Alarms As Power / Temperatures Dropped, Once Sunlight Returned All Returned To Normal, Allowing Spacecraft To Continue Collecting Valuable Data While Gradually Reducing Altitude

Image Credit: NASA, Astro Bob

Tuesday / 15 April 2014

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Lunar Eclipse Provides Challenges / Opportunities For Moon Craft

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Total Lunar Eclipse Visible In Western Hemisphere 15 Apr Between 07:06-08:24 UT, First Of Series Of 4 (Tetrad) In Next 18 Months; Celestial Geometry Will Challenge LRO Systems As Craft Will Pass Through Earth Shadow In 2 Consecutive Orbits; Eclipse Could Cause LADEE Propulsion Systems To Freeze, Yet Should Not Affect Scheduled ~21 Apr Impact; Chang’e-3 Lander Will Have Unique View Of Earth (TL) During Eclipse, Potential Opportunity To Study How Moon Cools While In Earth Shadow

Image Credit: NASA