Exploring the Cosmos

Image courtesy of NASA

NASA has chosen the final destination for LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) after a journey of almost 5.6 million miles which took in several orbits around Earth and moon.  It’s target is the crater Cabeus (proper) and the impact will take place on 9 October 2009 at 7.30am EDT (12.30 BST,11.30am GMT).  By smashing into the lunar surface LCROSS should be able to evaluate whether water ice exists at the moon’s south pole.

LCROSS will send its spent upper stage Centaur rocket to impact the lunar surface and will then fly into the plume of dust and measure the properties.  LCROSS itself will then collide with the moons surface. 

Dozens of professional astronomers based at international observatories will be aiming telescopes at the moon to maximise the scientific return of the LCROSS impacts.  Hubble will also be training it’s refurbished eyes on the moon to image the impact

For more information about the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite Mission.

The kind people at SLOOH have added two additional feeds which will view the impact as it happens.

LRO and LCROss has successfully launched aboard the Atlas V rocket and is on it’s way to the Moon!

Image Credit: ULA

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) is currently sitting aboard the Atlas V rocket on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral.

The spacecraft are schedule to lift on today, but the countdown is currently on hold due to bad weather.  There are currently aiming for what was the 3rd launch window today.  If this isn’t possible there are another 3 launch windows on Friday.

LRO  will be in the closest orbit to the moon at about 31 miles (50km) above the surface and will conduct investigations to help prepare for future missions.   LCROSS is going to search for water ice on the moon by impacting  the spent upper-stage Centaur rocket to into a polar crater in permanent shadows.  LCROSS will then fly into the plume of dust left by the impact and measure the properties before also colliding with the lunar surface.

You can watch the launch at NASA TV.

NASA has scheduled the next launch attempt of space shuttle Endeavour’s STS-127 mission for 5:40 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, June 17.  The launch will take place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Due to this change the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, are set to lift off together aboard an Atlas V rocket on Thursday, June 18.  There are three launch opportunities from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida: 5:12 p.m., 5:22 p.m. and 5:32 p.m.

Endeavour’s planned liftoff on 13 June was canceled because of a leak associated with the gaseous hydrogen venting system outside the shuttle’s external fuel tank.  The system is used to carry excess hydrogen safely away from the launch pad.

The LRO and LCROSS launch has been moved to 18 June to accommodate Endeavour’s 17 June liftoff.  If Thursday’s liftoff of LRO and LCROSS is postponed 24 hours, the launch times Friday are 6:41 p.m., 6:51 p.m. and 7:01 p.m. Saturday’s opportunities are 8:08 p.m., 8:18 p.m. and 8:28 p.m.

Endeavour’s 16-day STS-127 mission to the International Space Station will feature five spacewalks and complete construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory.  Astronauts will attach a platform to the outside of the Japanese module that will allow experiments to be exposed to space.

LRO is scheduled for a one-year exploration mission at a polar orbit of about 31 miles, or 50 kilometers, the closest any spacecraft has orbited the moon.  The primary objective of LRO is to conduct investigations to prepare for future explorations of the moon.

Launching with LRO is LCROSS, a partner mission that will search for water ice on the moon by sending the spent upper-stage Centaur rocket, about the size of a sports utility vehicle, to impact part of a polar crater in permanent shadows.  LCROSS will fly into the plume of dust left by the impact and measure the properties before also colliding with the lunar surface.

On 17 June 2009 NASA will launch two satellites that will go to the Moon.  The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) will be launched together on an Atlas V rocket from Kennedy Space Center.

The LRO is expected to identify safe landing sites for future human explorers as well as locating potential resources.  It will also characterise the enviromental radiation as well as testing new technology.  LCROSS is to search for the presence of water ice at the lunar poles

The instruments onboard LRO will help scientists compile high resolution, three-dimensional maps of the lunar surface and also survey it in the far ultraviolet spectrum. The satellite’s instruments will help explain how the lunar radiation environment may affect humans and measure radiation absorption with a plastic that is like human tissue.

LRO’s instruments also will allow scientists to explore the moon’s deepest craters, look beneath its surface for clues to the location of water ice, and identify and explore both permanently lit and permanently shadowed regions. High resolution imagery from its camera will help identify landing sites and characterise the moon’s topography and composition. A miniaturised radar will be used image the poles and test the system’s communications capabilities.

While most Centaurs complete their work after boosting payloads out of Earth’s orbit, the LCROSS Centaur will journey with the spacecraft for four months and be guided to an impact in a permanently shadowed crater at one of the moon’s poles. The resulting debris plume is expected to rise more than six miles. It presents a dynamic observation target for LCROSS as well as a network of ground-based telescopes, LRO, and possibly the Hubble Space Telescope. Observers will search for evidence of water ice by examining the plume in direct sunlight. LCROSS will also increase knowledge of the mineralogical makeup of some of the remote polar craters that sunlight never reaches. The satellite represents a new generation of fast development, cost capped missions that use flight proven hardware and off the shelf software to achieve focused mission goals.

LRO and LCROSS are the first missions launched by the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. Their data will be used to advance goals of future human exploration of the solar system. LRO will spend at least one year in low polar orbit around the moon, collecting detailed information for exploration purposes before being transferred to NASA’s Science Mission Directorate to continue collecting additional scientific data.