Updates LRO/LCROSS News and Updates

[tblaxland]

Some more Apollo 14 landing site images, this time at a higher sun angle:
http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/news/?archives/91-Trail-of-Discovery-at-Fra-Mauro.html
The descent module and astronaut tracks can be clearly seen.

 

[Andy44]

There's a link to a youtube video on that page, too.

 

[BrianJ]

"Spacecraft Anomaly"
From http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/main/index.html

Spacecraft Anomaly
Tue, 25 Aug 2009 04:58:30 AM UTC+0100

Upon starting an early morning communications pass on Aug. 22, 2009, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission operations team discovered the spacecraft had experienced an anomaly.

According to spacecraft data, the LCROSS Internal Reference Unit (IRU) experienced a fault. The IRU is a sensor used by the spacecraft’s attitude control system (ACS) to measure the orientation and trajectory of the spacecraft. The anomaly caused the spacecraft ACS to switch to the Star Tracker Assembly for spacecraft positional information and caused the spacecraft’s thruster to fire excessively, consuming a substantial amount of fuel. Initial estimates indicate that the spacecraft still contains sufficient fuel to complete the full mission.

LCROSS mission operations declared a ‘spacecraft emergency’ and were allocated additional communications time on the Deep Space Network. The team conducted procedures to mitigate the problem and were able to restart the IRU and reduce fuel consumption to a nominal level. Automatic operations procedures also were implemented to minimize the possibility of another IRU anomaly from occurring while the spacecraft is out of contact with the ground. Since the re-start, the IRU has not experienced any additional problems.

The team continues to actively assess and mitigate the situation and is in contact with the manufacturers of the IRU and star tracker to investigate the root cause of the problems. Mission managers remain optimistic the LCROSS mission can reach its successful conclusion with projected impact at the lunar south pole currently set for 4:30 a.m. PDT on Oct. 9, 2009.

LCROSS is a low-cost, highly risk-tolerant, fast-tracked mission of opportunity that was co-manifest with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Both spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on June 18, 2009. The main LCROSS mission objective is to confirm the presence of water ice in a permanently shadowed region near a lunar pole.

 

[ryan]

correct me if i'm wrong that it should be in it's final ''Tourist'' orbit.

 

[tblaxland]

correct me if i'm wrong that it should be in it's final ''Tourist'' orbit.

The nominal mission orbit is due to commence on 15 September.

 

[ryan]

http://spaceflightnow.com/lcross/090825fuel/
Ok people we gotta problem, this is first i noticed about this.

---------- Post added at 09:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:09 AM ----------

Spacecraft Anomaly

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 01:58:30 PM UTC+1000


Upon starting an early morning communications pass on Aug. 22, 2009, the
Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission operations
team discovered the spacecraft had experienced an anomaly.

According to spacecraft data, the LCROSS Inertial Reference Unit (IRU)
experienced a fault. The IRU is a sensor used by the spacecraft's attitude
control system (ACS) to measure the orientation of the spacecraft. The
anomaly caused the spacecraft ACS to switch to the Star Tracker Assembly for
spacecraft rate information and caused the spacecraft's thruster to fire
excessively, consuming a substantial amount of fuel. Initial estimates
indicate that the spacecraft still contains sufficient fuel to complete the
full mission.

LCROSS mission operations declared a 'spacecraft emergency' and were
allocated additional communications time on the Deep Space Network. The team
conducted procedures to mitigate the problem and were able to restart the
IRU and reduce fuel consumption to a nominal level. Automatic operations
procedures also were implemented to minimize the possibility of another IRU
anomaly from occurring while the spacecraft is out of contact with the
ground. Since the re-start, IRU has not experienced any additional problems.

The team continues to actively assess and mitigate the situation and is in
contact with the manufacturers of the IRU and star tracker to investigate
the root cause of the problems. Mission managers remain optimistic the
LCROSS mission can reach its successful conclusion with projected impact at
the lunar south pole currently set for 4:30 a.m. PDT on Oct. 9, 2009.

LCROSS is a low-cost, highly risk-tolerant, fast-tracked mission of
opportunity that was co-manifest with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Both
spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on June 18, 2009. The main
LCROSS mission objective is to confirm the presence of water ice in a
permanently shadowed region near a lunar pole.

 

[simonpro]

Ok people we gotta problem, this is first i noticed about this.

Note: Gotta means 'got to'. We don't got to problem. We have got a problem. Even Lovell got that right.

 

[ryan]

Note: Gotta means 'got to'. We don't got to problem. We have got a problem. Even Lovell got that right.

:lol: Sorry, i'm not as bright as Lovell.

 

[BrianJ]

Announced at the Press briefing yesterday, LCROSS target will be the small crater on the rim of "Cabeus A", at aproximately 42W 81.4S.

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/sep/HQ_09-210_LCROSS_Crater_Selection.html

 

[llarian]

81.4 is a relatively long way north of the pole. I wonder if the choice was dictated by fuel loss caused by the sensor anomaly?

 

[tblaxland]

81.4 is a relatively long way north of the pole. I wonder if the choice was dictated by fuel loss caused by the sensor anomaly?

It has one of the highest potential concentrations of water ice:

Probably due to its deep sides, relative to its diameter:

 

[tblaxland]

The nominal mission orbit is due to commence on 15 September.

Right on schedule:
NASA's new lunar mapper begins primary mission
http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av020/090917mapping.html

After two months of checkout and calibration, NASA's $504 million Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was maneuvered into a circular 31-mile-high mapping orbit Tuesday and scientists said Thursday the spacecraft's instruments are delivering intriguing clues about the possible presence of water ice.

 

[Star Voyager]

Target crater shifted from Cabeus A to the Cabeus crater:

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/lcross/090928crater/

 

[BrianJ]

Less than 2 days until LCROSS impact.

Latest impact coordinates I could find:

Impact Date Time Lat Long:
Centaur 9 Oct 2009 11:31:30 UTC -84.675, 311.275 E
SSC 9 Oct 2009 11:35:45 UTC -84.729, 310.640 E

Elevations (Assumed Lunar radius: 1737.4 km):
Centaur target elev: -3.82693 km
SSC target elev: -3.80909 km

Coverage on NASATV (times are EDT):

October 8, Thursday
1 p.m. - LCROSS Impact-1 News Conference - AMES (Public and Media Channels)

October 9, Friday
6:30 a.m. - LCROSS Live Impact Coverage - AMES (Public and Media Channels)
10 a.m. - LCROSS Post-Impact News Conference - AMES (Public and Media Channels)

I haven't seen any info about any webcasts from the LCROSS home page though.... http://lcross.arc.nasa.gov/

Anybody know of live webcasts by any observatories?

Here's a scenario for LCROSS and LRO starting at 00:00:00CT on Friday (11.5 hrs before impact) using Horizons latest vectors. Seperation of Centaur and SSC at -9hrs, SSC braking burn(~10m/s) at -8hrs before impact. (And don't forget to subtract 66secs from the Orbiter displayed time for true UTC ;-) [ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3687"]LRO add-on[/ame] required.

BEGIN_DESC
11.5 hrs before LCROSS imapct
END_DESC
 
BEGIN_ENVIRONMENT
  System LRO/Sol
  Date MJD  55113
END_ENVIRONMENT
 
BEGIN_FOCUS
  Ship AV020Centaur
END_FOCUS
 
BEGIN_CAMERA
  TARGET AV020Centaur
  MODE Extern
  POS 7.81 -99.18 43.31
  TRACKMODE GlobalFrame
  FOV 40.00
END_CAMERA
 
BEGIN_HUD
  TYPE Orbit
  REF AUTO
END_HUD
 
BEGIN_MFD Left
  TYPE Orbit
  PROJ Ship
  FRAME Equator
  ALT
  REF Moon
END_MFD
 
BEGIN_MFD Right
  TYPE Surface
  SPDMODE 1
END_MFD
 
BEGIN_SHIPS
AV020Centaur:Vessels/LRO/lcross_centaur
  STATUS Orbiting Earth
  RPOS  88854458.1249718 -23874049.5479371  360363515.369111
  RVEL -843.245653749442  820.736125279557  260.484937584885
  AROT 64.60 38.93 -85.32
  RCSMODE 2
  PRPLEVEL 1:0.173
  NAVFREQ 0 0
  CONFIGURATION 3 2 1 0 0 3 50.00
END
LRO:Vessels/LRO/lro
  STATUS Orbiting Moon
  ELEMENTS 1787997.119 0.00802646 87.6103 5.9974 279.618 254.511 55113.479
  AROT -114.99 68.10 63.69
  PRPLEVEL 0:0.988 1:1.000
  NAVFREQ 0 0
  CONFIGURATION 1
  ANT 1 1.0000 0.2482 0.8148
  SOLP 1 1.0000 0.4538 0.0441
  DVNR 0.0000 0.0000
END
END_SHIPS
BEGIN_ExtMFD
END

Cheers,
Brian

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

For the UK, the impact times will be:

Centuar: 9 Oct 2009 @ 12:31:30pm BST
LCROSS: 9 Oct 2009 @ 12:35:45pm BST

The Moon is usually visible during the day at this time of year - at least it has been whenever I’ve looked over the past few weeks. But I don't know for sure if it will be on the 9th - does anybody know of a place I could check?

Assuming it will be visible from the UK at the time of impact, does anybody have any info on:
. Predicted UK weather at time of impact (here's my guess: cloudy, cold & wet ).
. Direction + elevation of Moon in sky at time of impact.
. Direction + elevation of Sun in sky at time of impact (if Sun is too close to Moon in sky, the glare will obscure it).

And if the Moon were visible during the day, would the Earth's atmosphere obscure the impact plume anyway?


I'm really hoping to see the impact plume!

Thanks in advance for any answers.

 

[agentgonzo]

You should be able to see the moon's position at that time in Stellarium or at www.heavens-above.com.

If the moon's above the horizon, then it's always visible - you just need to find it, which can be hard if it's a thin crescent.

As for viewing the impact, I recall reading when LCROSS was launched that you would only see the flash of impact with a 12-14" scope or larger. I only have an 8", so didn't read much further. I have no idea about the plume that's created though. I would guess that it's not easily visible, but that's just a guess.

EDIT: Sky chart from Southampton (UK) at 12:30 on the 9th. Doesn't look like the moon will be above the horizon I'm afraid.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

NASA has announced a minor change to the impact time of the Centaur upper stage.

Based on the results from Monday night's trajectory correction manoeuvre, engineers project Centaur will impact the Moon at 11:31:19pm GMT Oct 9 - about 11 seconds earlier than previously announced.

LCROSS impact time remains unchanged (11:35:45pm GMT Oct 9).

Source: www.spaceflightnow.com/lcross/status.html

---------- Post added at 16:52 ---------- Previous post was at 16:44 ----------

Sky chart from Southampton (UK) at 12:30 on the 9th. Doesn't look like the moon will be above the horizon I'm afraid.

Dang.

I was really hoping to see that.

We Brits miss out on all the good stuff.

We should contact NASA & request they do a burn to either increase or decrease the time until impact, so that the Moon will be visible from the UK at the time of impact.

Although, knowing the UK, it'd only be cloudy anyway.
I can just imagine a large band of cloud moving in front of the Moon at 10 seconds to impact.
I'd be on the phone to NASA: "BURN RETROGRADE, NOW!!!" :rofl:

 

[agentgonzo]

We Brits miss out on all the good stuff.

It's a shame, but I've just read on another forum that it was timed so that the huge observatories in the Pacific could image it when it hits. I think that they are planning on imaging it with Hubble too. I haven't found any information about imaging the plume with an amateur scope though.

---------- Post added at 17:09 ---------- Previous post was at 17:04 ----------

More info:
"... [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]throw up a plume of debris as high as 10 km."[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"We expect the debris plumes to be visible through mid-sized backyard telescopes—10 inches and larger,"[/FONT]

In short, it's not going to be easy to see at all. NasaTV will likely be the best place to watch it.

Source

 

[Ghostrider]

We Brits miss out on all the good stuff.

Why ask NASA when you've got Torchwood?

 

[Andy44]

According to Spaceflightnow.com the plume is expected to reach 6 nm (~10km) in altitude, which isn't very high; I think some of the mountains are comparable and I can't make out mountains on the limb of the moon with a 50X spotting scope. The article also says you need about a 12" telescope to make it out, so my binos aren't going to cut it.

ETA: Wiki says the highest lunar mountain is listed as Mons Huygens at 5.5 km; Clementine data says the greatest highest to lowest delta on the moon is 18.1 km, but that's from valleys to highlands.