Updates LRO/LCROSS News and Updates

[insane_alien]

its already contaminated with lunar soil. and LCROSS isn't carrying bacteria.

the process of purifying the water which is needed anyway would remove whats left of LCROSS much the same way the ISS now recycles urine.

 

[BrianJ]

Just a little update - looks like it's go for launch tomorrow 18th June at 21:12:00 UTC

Two further launch opportunities tomorrow at 21:22:00 and 21:32:00 UTC

LRO lunar orbit insertion and LCROSS lunar gravity assist aprox 4.5 days later.

Nominal time for LCROSS lunar impact 9th October 11:30:00 UTC

Some nice pics on the ELV Countdown Portal http://countdown.ksc.nasa.gov/elv/

Big thanks to Flying Coffin who has been working like a trooper to update the add-on docs and Likeshadow for the inside info ;-)

Updated add-on will be up on OH in a few hours.

Good luck LRO and LCROSS!

 

[Kyle]

Godspeed LRO/LCROSS!
Feels just like an Apollo mission, only a slightly longer wait to get to the moon.

 

[BrianJ]

Just under 3 hours to launch, weather looks good

Here's a nice pic from earlier this afternoon from Likeshadow showing the AtlasV on LC41 with the Shuttle on LC39 over on the far right:

OK, I have beer, peanuts, NasaTV and Orbiter - I'm set for the evening :-D Go LRO and LCROSS!

 

[flying coffin]

Very nice picture! I've saved it. Be sure to thank LikeShadow for that
Beautiful shot!

 

[BrianJ]

Hey Chris, the hi-res version is on it's way to you soon.

But...I see rain creeping in on the radar.....NO RAIN! NO RAIN! NO RAIN!

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Launch Weather Conditions "No-Go" Now
Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:09:31 PM GMT

With storms over NASA's Kennedy Space Center moving south, the launch weather is "no-go" because of lightning and anvil clouds. The countdown is continuing, however, since the storms may pass before the launch opportunities arrive. The first chance is at 5:12 p.m. Other opportunities are 5:22 p.m. and 5:32 p.m.

 

[BrianJ]

Here's a nice pic from earlier this afternoon from Likeshadow showing the AtlasV on LC41 with the Shuttle on LC39 over on the far right:

I mean far left.

Clouds - go away!

 

[jgrillo2002]

LRO/LCROSS Launch

current status as of 5:20 EST.

LV is on hold to 5:32 due to storms in area. as of right now the weather commission is go for this attempt

 

[jgrillo2002]

Launch has occured at 5:33. looks like flying coffin needs to recalculate the manual for the addon

 

[flying coffin]

Yes, jgrillo, I will. Not immediately though.

 

[BrianJ]

Yes, jgrillo, I will. Not immediately though.

Whenever you're ready Chris :lol: Just need to update the launch times, everything else should be good.

Waited a long time for this launch - good to see it go.

Sounds like TLI was good - we're on our way.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

LRO solar array has been successfully deployed! :speakcool:

(In real life, not Orbiter)

 

[ryan]

I thought origonally that LCROSS will do its smashing around the same time LRO gets into orbit, but 5 months from now, whats LCROSS doing in between that time gap? no need to check systems your gonna crash into the moon!

 

[2552]

Actually, before crashing, LCROSS will need to fly through the main debris plume from the crash of the Centaur upper stage, take measurements of the plume (to see if there is water ice), then transmit it to Earth before crashing itself 4 minutes later. They'll need to make sure that will work, since there's only one shot at it. Also, probably the lunar flyby will make the Centaur collision faster, for a bigger plume (not sure though). The plumes of both the Centaur and LCROSS will be seen by LRO and the HST, as well as ground based telescopes.

 

[tblaxland]

I thought origonally that LCROSS will do its smashing around the same time LRO gets into orbit, but 5 months from now, whats LCROSS doing in between that time gap? no need to check systems your gonna crash into the moon!

LCROSS goes into a high inlcination Earth orbit which increases its relative velocity to the Moon and allows it to approach the Moon at a high angle of incidence at the poles (the LRO trajectory is, of necessity, almost tangential to the Moon's surface at the poles). This can be seen in BrianJ's LRO development thread where he has posted some pics of the trajectory in Celestia. The poles are being targeted because they are more likely to contain water ice in permanently shadowed regions. The time between LRO arrival and LCROSS impact gives the scientists a chance to review the mapping of the poles and select the most favourable target for LCROSS. Only the pole had to be decided before launch (I can't recall if they chose north or south).

 

[agentgonzo]

LCROSS goes into a high inlcination Earth orbit which increases its relative velocity to the Moon and allows it to approach the Moon at a high angle of incidence at the poles (the LRO trajectory is, of necessity, almost tangential to the Moon's surface at the poles). This can be seen in BrianJ's LRO development thread where he has posted some pics of the trajectory in Celestia. The poles are being targeted because they are more likely to contain water ice in permanently shadowed regions. The time between LRO arrival and LCROSS impact gives the scientists a chance to review the mapping of the poles and select the most favourable target for LCROSS. Only the pole had to be decided before launch (I can't recall if they chose north or south).

In short, LCROSS is doing a Gravity Assist past the moon (a few times?) to gain relative velocity so it can go smashy-smashy at a faster speed.

On a separate note, LRO is planning to spend a few months at a low polar orbit (~50km). When they did this with the Apollo LM ascent stages, they found that the orbit decayed quickly due to the moon's density (and thus gravity field) being lumpier than my home-made-custard. Are they going fire thrusters to keep LRO in the correct orbit or just let it decay?

 

[Chode]

In short, LCROSS is doing a Gravity Assist past the moon (a few times?) to gain relative velocity so it can go smashy-smashy at a faster speed.

On a separate note, LRO is planning to spend a few months at a low polar orbit (~50km). When they did this with the Apollo LM ascent stages, they found that the orbit decayed quickly due to the moon's density (and thus gravity field) being lumpier than my home-made-custard. Are they going fire thrusters to keep LRO in the correct orbit or just let it decay?

The LCROSS lunar gravity assist does gain relative velocity on impact, but it looks like the important factor is the angle of impact, which you want to be close to 90 degrees, to throw as much stuff up as high as possible.

As for the LRO orbit, they are going to correct the orbit periodically due to the 'lumpiness' of the lunar gravity field, so it can stay in orbit for 3-4 years.

Regards

 

[agentgonzo]

As for the LRO orbit, they are going to correct the orbit periodically due to the 'lumpiness' of the lunar gravity field, so it can stay in orbit for 3-4 years.
Regards

Excellent, thanks for the info!

 

[BrianJ]

See page 6 of this .pdf for full details of LRO's lunar orbit and station keeping requirements. It's quite interesting.
http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/library/IAC-07-C1_7_06.pdf

---------- Post added at 01:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:01 PM ----------

Nice liftoff pic, courtesy of Likeshadow
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/1037/lcrosslaunch.jpg
EDIT: Insterted image changed to link - large image 1.2Mb