Sat, Jan 12, 2008
Scheduled For Late-2008 Launch
NASA's next mission to Earth's
closest astronomical body is in the midst of integration and
testing at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, known as LRO, will spend at
least a year mapping the surface of the moon. Data from the orbiter
will help NASA select safe landing sites for astronauts, identify
lunar resources and study how the moon's environment will affect
humans.
Engineers at Goddard are building the orbiter and rigorously
testing spacecraft components to ready them for the harsh
environment of space. After a component or entire subsystem is
qualified, it is integrated into the LRO spacecraft. The core suite
of avionics for the orbiter is assembled and undergoing system
tests.
"This is a major milestone for the mission," said Craig Tooley,
LRO project manager at Goddard. "Our team has been working nearly
around the clock to get us to this point. Reaching this milestone
keeps us on the path to sending LRO to the moon later this
year."
Various components of the avionics and mechanical subsystem are
in the process of going through their qualification program. Six
instruments and one technology demonstration aboard the spacecraft
will provide important data to enable a safe and productive human
return to the moon. The six instruments are scheduled to arrive at
Goddard in the coming months for integration.
The spacecraft will ship to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, FL, 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. The
trip to the moon will take approximately four days. The Lunar
Reconnaissance Orbiter initially will enter an elliptical orbit,
also called the commissioning orbit. Once moved into its final
orbit, a circular polar orbit approximately 31 miles above the
moon, the spacecraft's instruments will map the lunar surface.
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