NASA launches LCROSS Lunar Impactor

June 19, 2009
NASA launches LCROSS Lunar Impactor

Enlarge

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket roars into space carrying NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite. Photo credit: NASA/Tom Farrar

NASA launched its first moon shot in a decade Thursday, sending up a pair of unmanned science probes that will help determine where astronauts could land and set up camp in years to come.

NASA successfully launched the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, Thursday on a mission to search for water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the moon's south pole. The satellite lifted off on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., at 4:32 p.m. CDT, with a companion mission, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO.

LRO safely separated from LCROSS 45 minutes later. LCROSS then was powered-up, and the mission operations team at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., performed system checks that confirmed the spacecraft is fully functional.

LCROSS and its attached Centaur upper stage rocket separately will collide with the moon at approximately 6:30 a.m. on Oct. 9, 2009, creating a pair of debris plumes that will be analyzed for the presence of water ice or water vapor, hydrocarbons and hydrated materials. The spacecraft and Centaur are tentatively targeted to impact the moon's south pole near the Cabeus region. The exact target crater will be identified 30 days before impact, after considering information collected by LRO, other spacecraft orbiting the moon, and observatories on Earth.

"LCROSS has been the little mission that could," said Doug Cooke, associate administrator for NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "We stand poised for an amazing mission and possible answers to some very intriguing questions about the moon."

The 1,290-pound LCROSS and 5,216-pound Centaur upper stage will perform a swing-by maneuver of the moon around 5 a.m. on June 23 to calibrate the satellite's science instruments and enter a long, looping polar orbit around Earth and the moon. Each orbit will be roughly perpendicular to the moon's orbit around Earth and take about 37 days to complete. Before impact, the spacecraft and Centaur will make approximately three orbits.

On the final approach, about 54,000 miles above the surface, LCROSS and the Centaur will separate. LCROSS will spin 180 degrees to turn its science payload toward the moon and fire thrusters to slow down. The spacecraft will observe the flash from the Centaur's impact and fly through the debris plume. Data will be collected and streamed to LCROSS mission operations for analysis. Four minutes later, LCROSS also will impact, creating a second debris plume.

"This mission is the culmination of a dedicated team that had a great idea," said Daniel Andrews, LCROSS project manager at Ames. "And now we'll engage people around the world in looking at the moon and thinking about our next steps there."

The LCROSS science team will lead a coordinated observation campaign that includes LRO, the Hubble Space Telescope, observatories on Hawaii's Mauna Kea and amateur astronomers around the world.

Ames manages LCROSS and also built the instrument payload. Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, Calif., built the spacecraft.

Provided by NASA

4.3 /5 (7 votes)  

Filter


Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

deatopmg
Jun 19, 2009

Rank: not rated yet
"The two spacecraft should reach the moon in four to five days - or by early next week."

4 to 5 days???!!!! C'mon people is this silliness from NASA or Ms. Dunn at the AP? NASA knows to the microsecond exactly where each of these vehicles will be.

NickFun
Jun 19, 2009

Rank: not rated yet
Of course they know! They just don't want US to know.
lomed
Jun 23, 2009

Rank: not rated yet
From the NASA LCROSS website ( http://www.nasa.g...dex.html )

LCROSS launched with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on June 18, 2009 at 2:32 p.m. PDT. The LCROSS shepherding spacecraft and the Atlas V%u2019s Centaur upper stage rocket will execute a fly-by of the moon on June 23, 2009 at about 5:20 a.m. PDT (LCROSS lunar swingby video stream coverage) and enter into an elongated Earth orbit to position LCROSS for impact on a lunar pole. On final approach, the shepherding spacecraft and Centaur will separate. The Centaur will act as a heavy impactor to create a debris plume that will rise above the lunar surface. Projected impact at the lunar South Pole is currently: Oct 9, 2009 at 4:30 a.m. PDT. Following four minutes behind, the shepherding spacecraft will fly through the debris plume, collecting and relaying data back to Earth before impacting the lunar surface and creating a second debris plume.
So, from the given launch time to the expected flyby time there are 4 days 14 hours and 48 minutes.
Rank 4.3 /5 (7 votes)
Related Stories
Relevant PhysicsForums posts
  • Is Venus Slowing Down?
    created2 hours ago
  • Never ending outer space.....
    createdFeb 11, 2012
  • Neutron Star fragments?
    createdFeb 11, 2012
  • stationary or not?
    createdFeb 11, 2012
  • Scale of the Universe
    createdFeb 10, 2012
  • Titan's lack of impact craters
    createdFeb 09, 2012
  • More from Physics Forums - General Astronomy

More news stories

Planck mission steps closer to the cosmic blueprint

(PhysOrg.com) -- ESA's Planck mission has revealed that our Galaxy contains previously undiscovered islands of cold gas and a mysterious haze of microwaves. These results give scientists new treasure to mine ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created 32 minutes ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New European rocket lifts off on maiden flight

Europe on Monday successfully launched a new lightweight rocket carrying a test payload, culminating a more than 12-year quest to master the entire range of space launchers.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created 4 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 2

Transforming galaxies

(PhysOrg.com) -- Many of the Universe's galaxies are like our own, displaying beautiful spiral arms wrapping around a bright nucleus. Examples in this stunning image, taken with the Wide Field Camera 3 on ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created 1 hour ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Alien matter in the solar system: A galactic mismatch

This just in: The Solar System is different from the space just outside it.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created 2 hours ago | popularity 4 / 5 (5) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

Scientists drill two miles down to ancient Lake Vostok

(PhysOrg.com) -- Russian scientists last week finished penetrating more than two miles through the Antarctic ice sheet to Lake Vostok, a huge freshwater lake that has been buried under the ice for millions ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created 1 hour ago | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0


Fast photon control brings quantum photonic technologies closer

(PhysOrg.com) -- Using photons instead of electrons to transmit information could lead to faster and more secure ways to communicate, among other advantages. Now a team of physicists has taken another step toward realizing ...

New ability to regrow blood vessels holds promise for treatment of heart disease

(Medical Xpress) -- University of Texas at Austin researchers have demonstrated a new and more effective method for regrowing blood vessels in the heart and limbs — a research advancement that could have ...

Myths and shame keep many from seeking bankruptcy protection

(PhysOrg.com) -- Two interesting facts that may counter modern ideas about bankruptcy: The overwhelming majority of U.S. filings belong to individuals rather than corporations or entities, and most of these ...

Big Society could threaten biodiversity conservation

A study of the Moray Firth Seal Management Plan (MFSMP), in north-east Scotland, identified four key conditions for long-term success, three of which pointed to the importance of direct government involvement.

Motivation to exercise affects behavior

(Medical Xpress) -- For many people, the motivation to exercise fluctuates from week to week, and these fluctuations predict whether they will be physically active, according to researchers at Penn State. In an effort to ...

'It's not nutritious until it's eaten'

As part of her "Let's Move! Initiative," First Lady Michelle Obama unveiled a new web resource highlighting new changes in the Chefs Move to Schools, during a CMST gathering in Dallas, TX today. CMTS advocates ...