NASA tests moon orbiter components

U.S. engineers are testing the components of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to make sure it is ready for its mission to the moon.

The LRO will spend at least a year mapping the surface of the moon. Data from the orbiter will be used to help NASA select safe landing sites for astronauts, identify lunar resources and study how the moon's environment will affect humans, the agency said Friday in a release.

The spacecraft will ship from Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., to Kennedy Space Center, Fla., in August in preparation for launch. The orbiter and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite will launch aboard an Atlas V rocket in late 2008, NASA said.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

   

• Quantum_Conundrum - Jan 12, 2008
  • Rank: 1 / 5 (3)
  Didn't they supposedly land on the moon almost 40 years ago?
  
  Why is it that they're acting like they've never done this before?
  
  why is it that for the past 20 years they can't even launch a spacecraft on schedule and bring the crew back alive.
  
  Didn't they supposedly already have like 10 or 11 people on the moon? And claim they still have vehicles and instruments on the moon? They ought to aready know what the environment is like on the moon.
  
  
  
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• nilbud - Jan 19, 2008
  • Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
  Take your meds and have a nap.
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