NASA adds LCROSS impactors into LRO mission

Cylinder · #1 (**permalink**) 11-April-2006, 03:21 AM

Quote:

NASA’s next mission to Moon will not merely orbit the gray satellite, but crash two vehicles into its South Pole to hunt for water ice, the space agency said Monday.

In addition to mapping the Moon to support future astronaut missions, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spaceflight will also aim a spent fuel stage and impactor probe at a southern crater rich in hydrogen and, possibly, ice...

Set to launch with LRO in October 2008, the $73 million Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) is a bare-bones spacecraft designed to use cameras and spectrometers to watch its 4,409-pound (2,000-kilogram) upper stage slam into hydrogen-rich Shackleton Crater, mission managers said...

The 1,940-pound (880-kilogram) LCROSS probe will fly through the resulting plume and use its instruments to scan for water while taking photographs, then – 15 minutes after the upper stage booster’s impact – the “shepherding” satellite will also crash into the crater floor, Andrews said.

Launch window · #2 (**permalink**) 11-April-2006, 07:34 AM

That's great news, I'm gald this is not just a robotic Moon orbiter

There have been enough unmanned orbiters already sent in the past or in the works for the Moon's future, Russia's Luna 11, Surveyor, Smart-1 ion mission, Clementine mission and perhaps a load of Japanese, Indian, European and Chinese missions on their way soon. I'm glad to hear NASA is including a robotic lander in this mission - it's truly needed if we are going to see the VSE fly.

NEOWatcher · #3 (**permalink**) 27-February-2008, 06:36 PM

Anybody know why this is suddenly a new story?

NASA plans to smash spacecraft into the moon

Quote:

The Earth-on-moon violence may raise eyebrows,
..."I think that people are apprehensive about it because it seems violent or crude, but it's very economical," said Tony Colaprete,

People for Earthly Treatment of Astro-objects?

01101001 · #4 (**permalink**) 27-February-2008, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NEOWatcher

Anybody know why this is suddenly a new story?

Maybe because Monday NASA Ames Research Center issued a press release: SpaceRef.com: NASA Taps Astronomy Community to Help Search for Lunar Water and maybe that triggered a reporter to get some quotes before the event and write a story.

Quote:

(Date Released: Monday, February 25, 2008)
News media are invited to attend a briefing from 12 p.m. to 12:30 noon PST Friday, Feb. 29 in Building 943 at NASA's Ames Research Center about the Lunar CRater Observing and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS, and the mission's participatory emphasis.

LCROSS Astronomer Workshop, February 29

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