The Massachusetts Institute of Technology press release is reproduced below:



David Chandler, MIT News Office
December 14, 2007


Image / JPL - NASA
The twin GRAIL satellites will orbit the moon close together, and constantly monitor
the exact timing of radio transmissions between them to reveal any perturbations
in their motion caused by variations in the moon's gravity field.

MIT will lead a $375 million mission to map the moon's interior and reconstruct its thermal history, NASA announced this week.

The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission will be led by MIT professor Maria Zuber and will be launched in 2011. It will put two separate satellites into orbit around the moon to precisely map variations in the moon's gravitational pull. These changes will reveal differences in density of the moon's crust and mantle, and can be used to answer fundamental questions about the moon's internal structure and its history of collisions with asteroids.

The detailed information about lunar gravity will also significantly facilitate any future manned or unmanned missions to land on the moon. Such data will be used to program the descent to the surface to avoid a crash landing and will also help target desirable landing sites. Moreover, the mission's novel technology could eventually be used to explore other interesting worlds such as Mars.

"After the three-month mission is completed, we will know the lunar gravitational field better than we know Earth's," says Zuber, who is head of MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences and the E.A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics. She will be the principal investigator for the GRAIL mission.

Former astronaut Sally Ride, the first U.S. woman in space, will lead the project's educational outreach phase, which will include five live MoonKam cameras on each satellite that will be targeted by young students--especially middle-school girls--in their classrooms to get close-up still and video views of the moon's surface.

So far, even such fundamental questions as whether or not the moon has a separate, differentiated core, as Earth does, are unknown, Zuber says. In addition to answering that question, the new mission should reveal details about lunar history, including the relative timing and effects of the myriads of huge impacts that created the craters and basins seen on the surface today. The moon, with its airless, un-eroded surface, serves as a kind of Rosetta Stone for understanding the history of all the solar system's inner planets--Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars--so the mission should also help to unlock secrets of the evolution of all these planets.

"The moon has the best-preserved record of the solar system's early history," Zuber says, while on other planets much of that record has been lost through erosion and other surface changes.

The technology used in the mission is a direct spinoff from the highly successful Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission, which has been mapping Earth's gravitational field since 2002. Using that technology made this a "low risk" mission for NASA because the necessary instruments had already been developed and tested.

As with that mission, GRAIL measurements of the gravitational field will come from very precise monitoring of changes in the distance between the two satellites. The resulting measurements will map the moon's gravitational field up to 1,000 times more accurately than any previous mapping.

The main new technology needed to make GRAIL possible was a way to calibrate the timing of the satellites accurately. The Earth-orbiting GRACE satellites use the GPS satellite navigation system, but there is no such system at the moon. Instead, the team adapted a technique that involves precise monitoring of radio signals originally designed for a different purpose for another planetary mission in development, named Juno.

The same technology could be applied to future missions to map the gravitational fields of other interesting worlds such as Mars, where it could reveal the exchange of carbon dioxide between the polar caps and atmosphere or the movement of flowing subsurface water, Zuber says. "We could learn amazing things" from such follow-up missions, she says. "Since we solved the GPS problem for the moon, we could propose this with little modification for other planets."

NASA selected the MIT-led mission from among two dozen original proposals. NASA Associate Administrator for Science Alan Stern noted that "GRAIL's revolutionary capabilities stood out in this Discovery mission competition owing to its unsurpassed combination of high scientific value and low technical and programmatic risk."

The GRAIL satellites will be built and operated by Lockheed Martin Space Systems of Denver, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., will handle project management and development of the communications and navigation systems.

The mission's science team also includes David E. Smith of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), who will be the deputy principal investigator, and other researchers from JPL, GSFC, the Carnegie Institution of Washington, the University of Arizona, the University of Paris and the Southwest Research Institute.[/font]

Source: MIT Press Release

LRO Assembly Progress
12.18.2007 - In the photo above, Bob Thompson wires heaters and thermostats on the +y side of the instrument module. The flight instrument module (IM) has most of its heaters and thermostats installed. This equipment will ensure that our instruments do not get too cold when they are off, and it will also keep them at a proper temperature when they are operating. When the thermal hardware installation is complete, we will put the IM in a vacuum chamber and bake out any remaining volatiles that could fog our optics. The large holes on the right will accommodate the LROC Narrow-Angle Cameras.

The Power System Electronics (PSE) and the reaction wheels have completed environmental testing and are ready for integration. The gimbal control electronics boxes have arrived from Starsys. The Propulsion and Deployment Electronics (PDE) is undergoing environmental testing at Goddard. The Ka-band modulator is about to start environmental testing.

+ LRO Assembly History

Source: NASA/GSFC - LRO

The Lockheed Martin press release is reproduced below:

LOCKHEED MARTIN SPACECRAFT TO BE FLOWN FOR NASA’S GRAIL LUNAR MISSION

DENVER, December 19th, 2007 -- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) newest mission will analyze the internal structure and gravitational forces of the Earth’s moon. The Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, mission is the latest mission under NASA’s Discovery Program. Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] will design, build and operate the GRAIL spacecraft.

The $375-million GRAIL mission is led by principal investigator Maria Zuber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory will manage the mission and will develop the science instrumentation.

“Our team is excited to be going back to the moon with an important science mission that will further NASA’s exploration goals,” said Jim Crocker, vice president of Sensing and Exploration Systems at Lockheed Martin Space Systems. “Even though man has walked on the moon, we still have much to learn and the GRAIL robotic mission will be instrumental to the challenge.”

The lunar mission will use two identical spacecraft orbiting the moon in a low, polar orbit. The spacecraft are based on the flight-proven XSS-11 technology demonstration satellite developed for the Air Force Research Laboratory. They will use Ka-band ranging instruments to send signals between one another, and then relay the data back to Earth to be analyzed. Scientists will examine the minute differences in distance the signals traveled between spacecraft. This will give unprecedented insight into the gravitational changes over the entire moon.

Professor Zuber said, “Our entire science team is delighted to partner with Lockheed Martin, which offers unparalleled industry experience in planetary space exploration. The adaptation of the successful Earth-orbital XSS-11 spacecraft design enables NASA’s Science Mission Directorate to benefit from technology investment external to the planetary program and contributes significantly to GRAIL’s low-risk posture.”

During the three-month science phase of the mission, GRAIL will create a global, high-accuracy, high-resolution lunar gravity map providing new understanding to the history and internal structure of the moon – from crust to core. The mission is expected to launch in 2011.

“GRAIL will be the fifth Discovery mission we will have the privilege of working on,” said John Henk, GRAIL program manager at Lockheed Martin Space Systems. “Every mission we develop has unique challenges. The key to the success of this mission will be developing two very smooth-running spacecraft to allow for precise intra-spacecraft distance measurements that indicate minute variations in the moon’s gravity during their orbits.”

Previously, Lockheed Martin designed and built the Lunar Prospector spacecraft; developed the aero shell entry system for the Mars Pathfinder mission; designed, built and operated the spacecraft for the Stardust mission; and designed, built and operated the Genesis spacecraft.

In addition to MIT, GRAIL’s science team includes NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, JPL, the Carnegie Institution of Washington, the University of Arizona, the University of Paris and the Southwest Research Institute.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, a major operating unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation, designs, develops, tests, manufactures and operates a full spectrum of advanced-technology systems for national security, civil and commercial customers. Chief products include human space flight systems; a full range of remote sensing, navigation, meteorological and communications satellites and instruments; space observatories and interplanetary spacecraft; laser radar; fleet ballistic missiles; and missile defense systems.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2006 sales of $39.6 billion.



Source: Lockheed Martin Press Release

December 21, 2007 Updated
KAGUYA (SELENE): Shifting to Regular Operations


The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is pleased to announce that the operation mode of the lunar explorer, KAGUYA (SELENE), was shifted to regular operations from its initial verification on December 21, 2007 (Japan Standard Time) as we were able to acquire satisfactory verification results for all fifteen observation missions. JAXA had been conducting an initial functional verification of the KAGUYA onboard equipment for about two months since the KAGUYA was injected into a lunar orbit at an altitude of about 100 km on Oct 18, 2007. From now on, we will perform observation of the Moon's surface for about ten months to acquire data on "Moon Science" and other studies.

JAXA Video Archives: KAGUYA (SELENE)
Project site

Source: JAXA - Projects - Selene

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) press release is reproduced below:

A team of scientists from the Naval Research Laboratory, the Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL's) Research Vehicles Directorate, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., and the University of New Mexico (UNM) has detected the lowest frequency radar echo from the moon ever seen with earth-based receivers.

In the lunar echo experiment (more properly called a lunar bistatic radar experiment), the Air Force/Navy High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) high power transmitter, located near Gakona, Alaska, launched high power radio waves toward the moon. The reflected signal, weakened because of the long distance to the moon and back, was detected by receiving antennas in New Mexico.

NRL consultant scientist Dr. Paul Rodriguez, of NRL's Information Technology Division, who conceived and proposed the experiment explains, "Analysis of the echo gives information on the properties of the lunar sub-surface topography, because the low frequency radar waves propagate to varying depths below the visible surface of the moon. It is somewhat like sonar, except that we are using electromagnetic waves rather than sound waves. The experiment also allows us to study the interaction of the echo signal with the earth's ionosphere along its return path, because the ionosphere is only partially transparent at low frequencies."

During the experiment, which was carried out on Oct. 28 and 29, 2007, the radar signals from HAARP were at 7.4075 MHz and 9.4075 MHz. Both the transmitted signal and the echo from the moon were detected by NRL Remote Sensing Division scientist, Dr. Kenneth Stewart, and NRL engineer Brian Hicks with antennas built for the Long Wavelength Array (LWA). LWA is a radio interferometer being built in the desert west of Socorro, N.M., by UNM, NRL, the Applied Research Laboratories at the University of Texas at Austin, Virginia Tech, and Los Alamos National Laboratory, for studies of space physics and astrophysics.

The LWA is intended to work below the 88 MHz edge of the FM band, but to get down to the HAARP signal frequencies, the antennas were equipped with digital receivers and specially designed matching networks developed by Stewart, Hicks, and engineer Nagini Paravastu at NRL. "Detecting the very weak radio signals after their round trip to the moon and back was challenging and required careful modification of the LWA antennas to improve their performance at these frequencies," says Stewart. NRL LWA Project Scientist Dr. Namir Kassim notes, "One of the successful goals of this experiment was to demonstrate that the LWA can work with instruments like HAARP at lower frequencies than its nominal design."

The HAARP radar antenna array was "phased" to point about 45 degrees away from the zenith, in order to track and directly illuminate the moon. Its full total power capability, about 3.6 MW, was used to transmit pulses two seconds in length every five seconds over a period of two hours each day, one hour at each frequency. Using such a pulse pattern makes the echo, which arrives back from the moon 2.4 seconds later, immediately recognizable, allowing the scientists to distinguish the moon's echo signal from the HAARP signal. The HAARP signal reached the receiving antennas in New Mexico by reflecting off the underside of the ionosphere, the region of the Earth's atmosphere from 50 to 400 km in altitude that is partially ionized by solar radiation.

The lunar echo measurements at 7.4075 MHZ are believed to be the lowest frequency (longest wavelength) at which bistatic radar measurements have been conducted. "Even though lunar echoes have been detected before at higher frequencies, it was really exciting to see them arrive in real time out under the full moon in the New Mexico desert," says NRL's Hicks.

The team members involved in the HAARP-LWA lunar radar experiment are: Dr.Paul Rodriguez, Dr. Kenneth Stewart, Brian Hicks, Dr. Nagini Paravastu; and Edward Kennedy of NRL; Dr. Paul Kossey of AFRL's Research Vehicles Directorate; and Dr. Lee J Rickard of UNM.

Significant help in conducting the experiment was provided by HAARP Program Managers Paul Kossey (Air Force) and Edward Kennedy (Navy); Mike McCarrick of BAE Systems-Advanced Technologies, which operates the HAARP facility, and by Clinton Janes (UNM); Gerald O'Connell (National Radio Astronomy Observatory); and Patrick Crane (NRL).


7.4075 Mhz signals from HAARP received by LWA on October 28, 2007, 09:00 UTC. This figure shows the
ionospheric reflections and the lunar echos of three of the more than 1400 HAARP pulses received by one
of the LWA antennas in New Mexico.


LWA Big Blade Antenna.


HAARP

Source: NRL News Release

The press release is reproduced below:

Beth Dickey/Stephanie Schierholz
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-2087/4997
beth.dickey-1@nasa.gov, stephanie.schierholz@nasa.gov

Nancy Neal Jones
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-0039
nancy.n.jones@nasa.gov



RELEASE: 08-004

NASA's Next Moon Mission Spacecraft Undergoing Critical Tests

GREENBELT, Md. - 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, Fla., 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.

For more information about the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, visit:


For more information about NASA's exploration program to the moon and beyond, visit:


Source: NASA Press Release 08-004

The Japanese Space Exploration Agency (JAXA) press release is reproduced below:



The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) carried out observations using two onboard sensors of the lunar explorer KAGUYA -- the Laser Altimeter (LALT) and sounder mode (*) of the Lunar Radar Sounder (LRS).

Through analysis of the LALT data taken from November 26 (Japan Standard Time, all the following dates and times are JST), 2007, we confirmed that the lunar topography can be deduced as planned. The LALT is expected to obtain a global and precise topographic data set of the Moon, including the polar regions with a latitude higher than 75 degrees that have never been explored by previous satellites. This data set, in combination with the high-spatial-resolution stereoscopic observation data to be taken with the Terrain Camera (TC), will compose the first complete, precise, and high-spatial-resolution topographic map of the Moon.

The LRS sounder mode was tested on November 20 and 21, 2007, over the eastern Mare Imbrium, and the performance of this mode was verified. The data obtained in this experiment visualized largely horizontal subsurface stratification, which probably consists of alternating beds of lava, volcanic ashe and ejecta blankets. The existence of such a strata has been expected for decades based chiefly on surface geology. By means of global scanning, the LRS will provide us with a massive amount of information on the subsurface geology of the Moon down to a few kilometers from the surface. Faults and folds, identified from the discontinuity or disturbance of subsurface stratification, are important clues to understand not only regional tectonics but also the evolution of the Moon, including global thermal history.

* The LRS has two observation modes - a sounder mode for subsurface sounding and a natural radio observation mode for observations of natural plasma waves and natural radio waves.

Laser Altimeter (LALT)
The Laser Altimeter (LALT) is a ranging instrument that emits a laser beam to the lunar surface and measures the distance to it from the main orbiter by the timing delay of the reflected light. As it uses laser reflection, it can measure the topography of the shadowed areas such as the inner regions of the polar craters.

The main scientific outcomes of LALT will include the following:
Completion of the first global and precise topographic data set of the Moon, including the polar regions with a latitude higher than 75 degrees that have never been explored by previous satellites (*) . This data set, in combination with the stereoscopic observation data taken with the Terrain Camera (TC), will compose the first complete, precise, and high-spatial-resolution topographic map of the Moon.
Synergy with other scientific missions. For instance, the lunar topography will be analyzed in combination with the gravity field deduced from the RSAT/VRAD data for the retrieval of the lunar inner structure such as the thickness distribution of the lunar crust.

Among data taken since November 26, 2007, Figure 1 shows the topography of the Mare Orientale deduced from the observation data taken on December 12 and 25, 2007. This demonstrates that the LALT can obtain high-accuracy topographic data.

* Previous data taken with the laser altimeter (LIDAR) onboard the Clementine satellite had a height resolution of about 100 m with a mean sampling interval of about 20 km along orbits separated by about 60 km, and did not cover polar regions. The LALT will cover the entire region of the Moon with a height resolution of 5 m at a sampling interval smaller than 2 km.


The topography refers to a 1737.4 km sphere centered at the center of the mass of the Moon. The right-hand side of the map corresponds to the near side of the Moon. Regions coded in blue have a lower altitude, and those in red are higher. The data is still preliminary and needs further calibration to be compared with background NASA data using the NASA World Wind system. The observation period (JST) of the data used to make this plot is December 12 07:32:22 - 15:04:06 and December 25 14:00:11 - 18:20:32


Laser Altimeter (LALT)
The Lunar Radar Sounder (LRS) will measure the lunar subsurface structures down to a few kilometers in depth with the HF (5 MHz) radar instrument utilizing digital technology. The existence of a widely-distributed strata has been suggested from the observations of the lunar surface since the Apollo era. The LRS will enable more robust detection of the subsurface structures throughout the Moon compared to the previous radar sounder measurements of the Moon -- the ALSE (Apollo Lunar Sounder Experiment) of the Apollo 17 mission that measured selected areas of the lunar mare regions on the near side of the Moon and demonstrated the feasibility of the radar sounding of the subsurface structures at a depth down to 2 kilometers. We expect to detect many faults and folds that measure a few kilometers deep, which will tell us about the lunar evolution such as a cooling history of the Moon since its surface was hotter and less rigid than now.

Initial results on the lunar subsurface structure were obtained using the LRS sounder mode observation data collected on November 20 and 21, 2007. The received radar echo (Figure 3) was as expected through computer simulation (Figure 2). The extraction of radar echoes reflected by subsurface structures was demonstrated to be satisfactory.

In addition to the conventional sounding technique that tests echo trace in the plots like Figures 2 and 3, a new method that uses not only the amplitudes of the echoes but also their phases was proved feasible. This method utilizes the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technique with foci of variable depths and ensures robust detection of radar echoes from subsurface structures (Figure 4).


Simulated radar echoes to be observed by the KAGUYA (left) as it travels over the model surface structure (right) (Kobayashi et al. 2002). In the diagram, vertical and horizontal axes correspond to the apparent depth and positional offset, respectively, and coded in color is the amplitude of radar echo. The apparent depth is the delay timing divided by the speed of light. In the 2-D diagram, echoes from large craters appear as hyperbolic coherent features, while surface clatters from numerous small craters appear as random noise near the surface. The targeted radar echoes from subsurface structures appear as continuous features with nearly constant depths. Subsurface echoes can be detected in this manner


These agree with the simulated echoes in Figure 2 in the following aspects:
- Trace and amplitude variation of the surface crater echoes in the 2-D diagram.
- Behavior of the surface clatters (unwanted radar echoes caused by adjacent craters that interfere with the detection of subsurface echoes, particularly in highland regions).
These ensure validity of the new data analysis method established with the computer simulation results. Here both crater echoes and surface clatters are classified as interference due to surface reflection, and we refer to the coherent echoes as "crater echoes" and the incoherent ones as "surface clatters".


Shown in the upper left panel are results of the SAR detection of reflective subsurface structures down to 500 m by focusing on relatively shallow regions. The depth refers to the 1737.4 km sphere centered at the center of the mass of the Moon. Red lines in the lower left panel show evident reflecting interfaces in the section, which is 180 km long. True dips of the interfaces are very small, as those sections are vertically exaggerated by a factor of ~30. This means that the mare is underlain by horizontally lying strata as thick as 500 m, probably composed of lava, volcanic ashe and ejecta blankets. This experiment verified the performance of the LRS sounder mode observation, and at the same time provided direct evidence for the existence of depositional units underneath the Mare Imbrium.

* Lunar chart reference source: _http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog


Mission website:
SELenological and ENgineering Explorer "KAGUYA" (SELENE)


Source: JAXA press release

11 January 2008



Excitement is rising as ESA is in the final stages of preparation for the first collaborative space mission with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Chandrayaan-1 will study the Moon in great detail and be the first Indian scientific mission leaving the Earth’s vicinity.

Europe is supplying three instruments for the mission.
The Moon retains its fascination for planetary scientists and presents many mysteries still ripe for investigation. Chandrayaan, which means ‘journey to the Moon’ in Hindi, will study the Moon at many wavelengths from X-rays, visible, and near infrared to microwaves during its mission. It will orbit the moon in a circular path, just 100 km above the lunar surface.



“The low orbit will give us really high resolution data,” says Detlef Koschny, ESA Chandrayaan Project Scientist. The principal mission objective is to map the surface of the Moon in unprecedented detail. At present the maps planetary scientists have show details of some 30-100 m across. Chandrayaan will produce maps with a resolution of between 5 and 10 m across the whole surface of the Moon. “We aim to have this in two years,” says Koschny.

Building on the experience gained with SMART-1, Europe’s first mission to the Moon, which was launched in September 2003 and concluded its work three years later, ESA is assisting ISRO with operations, data handling and flight dynamics. ESA is also coordinating the provision of three European instruments.



The Compact Imaging X-ray Spectrometer (CIXS) will carry out high-quality, low-energy (soft) X-ray spectroscopic mapping of the Moon. The Infrared Spectrometer, known as SIR-2, will observe the chemical composition of the Moon’s crust and mantle. Both of these instruments were flown on SMART-1 and have been upgraded and rebuilt for Chandrayaan-1. They will continue the work on surface composition started by the original instruments.



The third European contribution is the Sub-keV Atom Reflecting Analyzer (SARA). Derived from the ASPERA (energetic neutral atoms analyser) instruments, flown on Mars Express and Venus Express, it will be the first lunar experiment dedicated to direct studies of the interaction between electrically charged particles and the surface of the Moon.

With no atmosphere, the Moon’s surface is constantly bombarded by the wind of particles released by the Sun. SARA will monitor these interactions and use them to image the Moon’s surface composition, study surface magnetic anomalies and study the gases released from the lunar surface by the collision of the solar particles.



All European instruments are nearing completion and will be delivered to ISRO soon.

The low orbit means that these instruments, all of which rely on collecting the energy or particles emitted by the lunar surface, will work better. “Being closer to the surface means that the signal received from the surface will be stronger. This is good for global mapping,” says Christian Erd, ESA Chandrayaan Project Manager.



Apart from these European instruments, Chandrayaan-1 will carry another eight science instruments. They include a 29-kg landing probe (MIP), which will be dropped onto the Moon’s surface at the beginning of the mission to conduct investigations.

Chandrayaan-1 is scheduled to launch in April 2008 from Sriharikota, India. It will be carried into space by a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and placed on a five and a half day cruise to the Moon. It will then take two weeks of manoeuvres to fit into its operational orbit.

In addition to the great science it will address, Chandrayaan-1 will be a stepping-stone to future missions to other bodies, as well as to the Moon. For example, ESA’s BepiColombo mission to Mercury will carry a replica of SARA’s sensor subsystem, allowing the results from the two celestial bodies to be compared directly.



For more information:

Detlef Koschny, ESA Chandrayaan-1 Project Scientist
Email: Detlef.Koschny @ esa.int

Christian Erd, ESA Chandrayaan-1 Project Manager
Email: Christian.Erd @ esa.int

Source: ESA - Space Science - News

The press release is reproduced below:

Stephanie Schierholz/Beth Dickey
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-4997/1272
stephanie.schierholz@nasa.gov, beth.dickey-1@nasa.gov

Jonas Dino
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-5612/207-3280
jonas.dino@nasa.gov


RELEASE: 08-006

NASA's Quest to Find Water on the Moon Moves Closer to Launch

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. - Cameras and sensors that will look for the presence of water on the moon have completed validation tests and been shipped to the manufacturer of NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite.

The science instruments for the satellite, which is known as LCROSS, departed NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field Calif., for the Northrop Grumman Corporation's facility in Redondo Beach, Calif. to be integrated with the spacecraft. A video file is available on NASA Television. LCROSS is scheduled to launch with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., by the end of 2008.

"The goal of the mission is to confirm the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the moon's south pole," said Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS principal investigator at Ames. "The identification of water is very important to the future of human activities on the moon."

In 2009, LCROSS will separate into two parts and create a pair of impacts on the permanently dark floor of one of the moon's polar craters. The spent Centaur upper stage of the Atlas V rocket will hit the moon, causing an explosion of material from the crater’s surface. The instruments aboard the satellite will analyze the plume for the presence of water ice or water vapor, hydrocarbons and hydrated materials. The satellite then will fly through the plume on a collision course with the lunar surface. Both impacts will be visible to Earth and lunar-orbiting instruments.

Northrop Grumman is designing and building the spacecraft. After installing the instruments on the satellite, Northrop Grumman will test the entire spacecraft system to ensure it is flight worthy.

During development of the LCROSS payload, Ames engineers and scientists built new spaceflight hardware and used new testing procedures to take advantage of lower cost, commercially available instruments. The team subjected the commercial instruments and NASA-developed components to conditions simulating the harsh environment of spaceflight. Working closely with the commercial instrument manufacturers, all safety and operational concerns were addressed quickly and efficiently.

"This payload delivery represents a new way of doing business for the center and the agency in general," said Daniel Andrews, LCROSS project manager at Ames. "LCROSS primarily is using commercial-off-the-shelf instruments on this mission to meet the mission's accelerated development schedule and cost restraints."

"This arrangement has proven to work very well," Andrews added. "The vendors work with their products and develop a spaceflight knowledge base, and the LCROSS project gets very mature products for deployment on this mission."

For more information about the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite mission, visit:


For more information about the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, visit:


For more information about NASA's exploration plans to the moon and beyond, visit:


For more information about NASA's International Space Station Program, visit:


Source: NASA Press Release 08-005

LRO Assembly Progress
01.21.2008 - LRO's modular spacecraft design is really paying off right now. While the electrical team connects the Power System Electronics (PSE), the Command and Data Handling (C&DH) system, and the Propulsion and Deployment Electronics (PDE) to the flight harness, the propulsion team is putting the finishing touches on the propulsion module, the mechanical team is installing the reaction wheels on the Ðz panel, and the facilities team is baking out the Instrument Module. The PSE and C&DH each attach to all of the other electronics in the Orbiter, and we must check out every signal on every connector, so the integration took a few days. We are currently working on the PDE electrical integration. We had our first official power-up of the spacecraft last week, successfully sending commands and receiving telemetry. The Gimbal Control Electronics are mounted to the panel, but not yet connected. Also last week, CRaTER completed its post-ship functional.

+ More Photos and Descriptions
+ LRO Assembly History

Source: NASA/GSFC - LRO

The NASA/Ames Research Center press release is reproduced below:

Michael Mewhinney
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-3937
Michael.S.Mewhinney@nasa.gov


RELEASE: 07_89AR


NASA Appoints Interim Lunar Science Institute Director

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. - David Morrison has been appointed interim director of the NASA Lunar Science Institute, based at the Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., effective immediately. A nationwide search for a permanent director is under way.

A world-renowned planetary scientist, Morrison currently serves as senior scientist at the Ames-based NASA Astrobiology Institute. The Lunar Science Institute will be modeled after the Astrobiology Institute, with teams across the nation working together to help lead the agency's research activities related to NASA's exploration goals.

The Lunar Science Institute will fund interdisciplinary science and exploration research teams to conduct basic lunar science, as well as astronomical, solar and Earth science investigations that can be performed from the moon. Institute teams also will provide a quick-response capability in support of NASA's Exploration initiative. The new institute is scheduled to begin operations by March 1.

"I am delighted that David Morrison has agreed to take on this challenge and responsibility. The Science Mission Directorate is looking forward to working with him in the coming months," said Alan Stern, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington.

Morrison, who obtained his Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University, has written more than 155 technical papers and published a dozen books. He has worked at Ames since 1988, as chief of the space science division and director of the space directorate at the center.

Previously, Morrison was on the faculty of the University of Hawaii. He is the recipient of the Dryden Medal for research of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Sagan Medal of the American Astronomical Society for public communication, and the Klumpke-Roberts award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for contributions to science education. He also has received two NASA Outstanding Leadership medals and the Presidential Meritorious Rank.

"David Morrison is an Ames institution and a pillar of the planetary research community, having served as a scientist on NASA's Mariner, Voyager and Galileo missions," said S. Pete Worden, Ames center director. "His experience at the NASA Astrobiology Institute and his communication and management skills are just the talents we need to ensure early success for the NASA Lunar Science Institute."

Before the arrival of a permanent director, Morrison will be responsible for completing the first call for institute proposals through a cooperative agreement announcement later this spring.

"Creating a new and innovative program in lunar science is an exiting prospect, which I am thrilled to take on," said Morrison. "I am confident that the formation of the NASA Lunar Science Institute will galvanize interdisciplinary research on the moon as the NASA Astrobiology Institute has done for the field of astrobiology, including developing international partnerships and training a new generation of lunar scientists."

NASA announced its intent to establish a new lunar science institute in October 2007. The Lunar Science Institute will augment other, previously established, but smaller, focused lunar science investigations funded by NASA. Work performed by the institute will be conducted at a variety of NASA centers, universities and non-profit organizations across the nation. Institute funding will be allocated based on competitive selection following scientific peer review. For more information on NASA programs, visit:

_http://www.nasa.gov



Source: NASA/ARC Press Release 08_10AR

LRO Assembly Progress
01.21.2008. - The LRO team continues to make good progress with the integration of the Orbiter. The Gimbal Control Electronics and the Propulsion & Deployment Electronics are electrically integrated with the system, and we have run their functional tests. Yesterday, we installed and connected the Miniature Inertial Measurement Unit (MIMU). The MIMU senses spacecraft motion, and the Orbiter uses that information to precisely control the spacecraft's pointing. The MIMU is so sensitive that it can detect the rotation rate of the earth - we use that measurement to verify proper performance of the unit. Today, we are integrating the Telemetry, Tracking, and Command (TT&C) subsystem. The TT&C provides radio communication with the ground, and we will use measurements of the radio signals to provide information critical to the tracking of the Orbiter.

+ View History of the Assembly Progress

Source: NASA/GSFC - LRO

February 20, 2008: The space around Earth is a busy place, as teeming with traffic as a roundabout. More than 500 active satellites are bustling about up there right now. Some are transmitting radio, television, and telephone signals; others are gathering information about Earth's atmosphere and weather; still others are helping people navigate down here; and the rest are conducting space research.

Soon the space around the moon will be busy too. China, Japan, India, Russia, and the US either have sent or plan to send satellites there for a bird's-eye view of lunar features and resources.

Why is the moon such a draw?

For one thing, it's there – close by. We can see it better than we can see anything else in space. And it's reachable, even by countries whose space programs are in their infancy. It represents a grand first step for them.



Indeed, two of those nations are already there: Japan and China are orbiting the moon right now.

Japan's Kaguya spacecraft, formerly known as SELENE, reached the moon in October 2007. Its mission: to make detailed maps of the moon's surface, to search for water (a key resource for future human landings) frozen in deep craters, and to study the moon's gravitational field.

Barbara Cohen, a lunar scientist and self-described "lunatic" at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, says "Kaguya is the Cadillac of missions right now. It is huge, consisting of three separate satellites, and has excellent instruments. It will do a lot of particles and fields work that no other currently planned orbiter will do. Plus it will be able to train all its instruments toward the same spot on the moon simultaneously."

Kaguya's main satellite carries 13 science instruments, including an HDTV (high-definition TV) camera, which is sending back incredible images of lunar landscapes stretching into the distance like an open road and Earth rising over the lunar horizon:



Barely a month after Japan reached the moon, China followed suit: China's Chang'e-1 spacecraft entered lunar orbit on November 5, 2007. During its 1-year mission, it will map the moon by taking three-dimensional images of the entire lunar surface. This satellite will send back the first detailed pictures of some areas near the poles where water ice is most likely to be found.

Chang'e-1 is the first in a series of three Chinese spacecraft: Chang'e-2 will be a lander with a rover, and Chang'e-3 will return moon samples to Earth. The Chinese hope someday to send humans to build a lunar outpost, but for now they're focusing on gathering knowledge and experience step-by-step.

Later this year India plans to send its own Chandrayaan-1 probe to orbit the moon. In Sanskrit, "Chandrayaan" means "Moon Craft." A NASA-sponsored instrument, the Moon Mineralogy Mapper, will ride along and use an infrared spectrometer to survey the lunar terrain and give us a highly detailed picture of mineral locations. Chandrayaan-2, planned for 2010 or 2011, will place a robotic rover on the moon. The rover will wheel around on the lunar surface, pick up samples of soil or rocks, do chemical analysis, and send the data to the spacecraft orbiting above.

NASA is very much a part of this "Great Moon Rush." Later this year, the agency plans to launch the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a spacecraft bristling with instruments to map the moon and locate key resources ranging from water to building materials.

"The LRO mission will provide the best resolution images – at about 50 cm per pixel – out of all the instruments currently headed to the moon," says Cohen. "This means we will be able to see rocks that are about two feet in diameter. This lets us look at potential landing sites to assess the terrain and hazards for a human return. LRO will also have an instrument that flies 'tissue-equivalent plastic' to assess radiation damage to human skin." (Readers, stay tuned for a series of upcoming Science@NASA stories about LRO and its capabilities.)



In 2011 NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, will peer deep inside the moon to reveal its anatomy and history. This mission, part of NASA's Discovery Program, will fly twin spacecraft around the moon for several months to measure its gravity field in great detail and answer questions about how Earth and other planets in our solar system formed.

Both LRO and GRAIL will provide valuable information to help plan for a human US return to the moon in the next decade.

The US has already been there, you say? True, but we didn't stay long enough to do much more than scratch the moon's surface, literally. The pull to return is strong. Dr. Wesley Huntress, lunar advocate and Director Emeritus of the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory, says it best:

"... many nations with emerging space programs have the moon in their sights. There will be a renaissance in lunar scientific exploration in the next several decades that the US will not want to miss. The pull of the moon to emerging space programs around the world can be a catalyst for a new era of space exploration; one of international cooperation¹ ...."


Above: A 3D image of lunar terrain.
Credit: China's Chang'e-1 lunar orbiter.
[Larger image]

No return would be complete without an original lunar pioneer: Russia. After racing to the moon in the 1970s, the USSR virtually abandoned lunar exploration. Russian scientists nevertheless continued to look longingly toward that silver orb in the night sky, recognizing its great worth for research. Now, the Russian space program, with an eye toward an outpost in the distant future, may launch its Luna-Glob project within the next several years. Plans include an orbiter that will deploy 13 probes, including penetrators and a lander, to answer questions about the moon's origin and search for water ice.

"There is a fair bit of overlap among missions, but this is okay in science," adds Cohen. "We will get more coverage and better resolution by being able to add together data from similar instruments. This is partly by design. NASA doesn't want an over-reliance on other countries to collect the data necessary for a human return to the moon. What if another country canceled its commitment to fly or their spacecraft failed? We rather fly our own missions with our own instruments to make sure we get our basic data, and then we definitely collaborate with other countries and missions to share, refine and improve the data."

How long will it take for the moon to be encircled with satellite traffic like Earth? Not very long, with the current moon rush. By the end of 2011, nine satellites could be buzzing around up there. That's a pretty good start.




Chang'e 1 -- mission home page; and more from Wikipedia

Kaguya (SELENE) -- mission home page; and more from Wikipedia

LRO --mission home page

GRAIL -- news release

FOOTNOTE: ¹Dr. Wesley Huntress, Director Emeritus of the Carnegie Institution’s Geophysical Laboratory, made these comments in a December 7, 2007, lecture at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The lecture was sponsored by the National Space Science and Technology Center.


NASA's Future: The Vision for Space Exploration

Source: Science@NASA

The media advisory is reproduced below:

Beth Dickey/Stephanie Schierholz
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-2087/4997
bdickey@nasa.gov, stephanie.schierholz@nasa.gov

DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-0474
agle@jpl.nasa.gov


MEDIA ADVISORY: M08-39

NASA to Release Enhanced Radar Imagery of Lunar South Pole

WASHINGTON -- NASA scientists have obtained the highest resolution terrain mapping to date of the moon's rugged south polar region and will discuss the imagery Wednesday, Feb. 27, at the 3rd Space Exploration Conference in Denver.

Researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., generated the imagery using data collected with the facility's Goldstone Solar System Radar. The news media briefing is scheduled for noon MST in Room 506 of the Colorado Convention Center.

Panelists for the briefing are:
- Doug Cooke, deputy associate administrator, Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington
- Scott Hensley, principal investigator, Lunar Image Team, JPL
- Eric de Jong, principal investigator, Solar System Visualization, JPL

For reporters who are unable to attend, a call-in line will be available. Call-in information is available by contacting Stephanie Schierholz at 202-834-0548.

At noon MST on Feb. 27, terrain maps of the moon's south pole and other images will be available online at:


For more information about NASA's program to return to the moon, visit:


The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics will host the conference Feb. 26-28 in Denver. Media may register to attend by contacting Sharon Grace of AIAA at 703-264-7532 or sharong@aiaa.org. For more information about the conference, visit:


Source: NASA Media Advisory M08-39

LRO Assembly Progress
February 22. - The LAMP instrument arrived Monday. We performed the incoming inspection and check-out. LAMP is in good shape, ready for integration. The High-Gain Antenna arrived, and we integrated the S-band feed and performed some alignment checks. Now we are measuring the RF beam in the anechoic chamber. In the Orbiter White Room, we are cleaning up the last of some details before next week's assembly of the -y and -z panels around the propulsion module.

The photo above shows the High-Gain Antenna in the anechoic chamber. The cones on the wall absorb radio waves, preventing reflections that would corrupt the measurements of the antenna performance. The red cover on the central feed supports a mirror-covered cube that we use for alignment measurements. The cover will be removed before flight.

+ View History of the Assembly Progress

Source: NASA/GSFC - LRO

NASA plans to smash spacecraft into the moon
Scientists believe lunar double whammy may reveal hidden ice in craters

Scientists are priming two spacecraft to slam into the moon's South Pole to see if the lunar double whammy reveals hidden water ice.

The Earth-on-moon violence may raise eyebrows, but NASA's history shows that such missions can yield extremely useful scientific observations.

"I think that people are apprehensive about it because it seems violent or crude, but it's very economical," said Tony Colaprete, the principal investigator for the mission at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.

NASA's previous Lunar Prospector mission detected large amounts of hydrogen at the moon's poles before crashing itself into a crater at the lunar South Pole. Now the much larger Lunar Crater and Observation Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission, set for a February 2009 moon crash, will take aim and discover whether some of that hydrogen is locked away in the form of frozen water.

LCROSS will piggyback on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission for an Oct. 28 launch atop an Atlas 5 rocket equipped with a Centaur upper stage. While the launch will ferry LRO to the moon in about four days, LCROSS is in for a three-month journey to reach its proper moon-smashing position. Once within range, the Centaur upper stage doubles as the main 4,400 pound (2,000 kg) impactor spacecraft for LCROSS.

The smaller Shepherding Spacecraft will guide Centaur towards its target crater, before dropping back to watch — and later fly through — the plume of moon dust and debris kicked up by Centaur's impact. The shepherding vehicle is packed with a light photometer, a visible light camera and four infrared cameras to study the Centaur's lunar plume before it turns itself into a second impactor and strikes a different crater about four minutes later.

For the full story please click here: Source

NASA has obtained the highest resolution terrain mapping to date of the moon's rugged south polar region, with a resolution to 20 meters per pixel. Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., collected the data using the facility's Goldstone Solar System Radar located in California's Mojave Desert. The imagery generated by the data has been incorporated into animation depicting the descent to the lunar surface of a future human lunar lander and a flyover of Shackleton Crater.

The mapping data collected indicate that the region of the moon's south pole near Shackleton Crater is much more rugged than previously understood. The Shackleton rim area is considered a candidate landing site for a future human mission to the moon.


This movie is a simulation of the amount of solar
illumination in the south polar region of moon
over a solar day generated using high resolution
topography.
› Play animation (Quicktime - 1.6Mb)
› Related images and animations

"The south pole of the moon certainly would be a beautiful place to explore," said Doug Cooke, deputy associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, Washington. "We now know the south pole has peaks as high as Mt. McKinley and crater floors four times deeper than the Grand Canyon. There are challenges that come with such rugged terrain, and these data will be an invaluable tool for advance planning of lunar missions."

Three times during a six-month period in 2006, scientists targeted the moon's south polar region using Goldstone's 70-meter radar dish. The antenna, three-quarters the size of a football field, sent a 500-kilowatt strong, 90-minute long radar stream 231,800 miles to the moon. The radar bounced off the rough-hewn lunar terrain over an area measuring about 400 miles by 250 miles. Signals were reflected back to two of Goldstone's 34-meter antennas on Earth. The roundtrip time, from the antenna to the moon and back, was about two-and-a-half seconds.


This animation utilizes the latest terrain data of
the moon's south pole region in the generation of
a animation of what a future moon crew could
see during a descent to the rim of Shackleton
Crater.
› Play animation (Quicktime - 2.7Mb)

"I have not been to the moon, but this imagery is the next best thing," said Scott Hensley, a scientist at JPL and lead investigator for the study. "With these data we can see terrain features as small as a house without even leaving the office."

Previously, the best resolution of the moon's south pole was generated by the Clementine spacecraft, which could resolve lunar terrain features near the south pole at 1 kilometer per pixel. The new resolution generated by JPL is 50 times more detailed.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will provide the next generation of lunar imaging and data. The spacecraft is scheduled to launch in late 2008. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera will retrieve high resolution images of the moon's surface and lunar poles with resolutions to 1 meter. These images will provide knowledge of polar illumination conditions, identify potential resources and hazards, and enable safe landing site selection. Other instruments aboard the orbiter will return data such as temperature maps, ultraviolet images, characterization of radiation on the moon and a high resolution 3-D map. NASA's quest for up-to-date imagery of the moon also will benefit from international missions such as Japan's Selene robotic probe.


Media contacts: DC Agle 818-393-9011 / Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
agle@jpl.nasa.gov
Beth Dickey/Stephanie Schierholz 202-358-2087/4997 / NASA Headquarters, Washington
bdickey@nasa.gov, stephanie.schierholz@nasa.gov

Source: NASA - Missions - Exploration

February 29, 2008: NASA has obtained new high-resolution radar maps of the Moon's south pole--a region the space agency is considering as a landing site when astronauts return to the Moon in the years ahead.

"We now know the south pole has peaks as high as Mt. McKinley and crater floors four times deeper than the Grand Canyon," says Doug Cooke, deputy associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. "These data will be an invaluable tool for advance planning of lunar missions."

Click on the image below to view a movie of the craggy landscape with simulated shadows twirling over the course of a complete lunar day:.



Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory collected the data using the Goldstone Solar System Radar located in California's Mojave Desert. Three times in 2006, JPL scientists targeted the moon's south polar region using Goldstone's 70-meter radar dish. The antenna, three-quarters the size of a football field, sent a 500-kilowatt strong, 90-minute long radar stream 231,800 miles to the Moon. The radar illuminated the rough-hewn lunar surface over an area measuring about 400 by 250 miles. Signals were reflected back to two of Goldstone's 34-meter antennas on Earth. Scientists have been analyzing the echoes ever since, and the data were released by NASA for the first time this week.

NASA has used the data to make a VR movie of a Moon landing from the point of view of the astronaut. Click here to watch.

"I have not been to the Moon, but this imagery is the next best thing," says Scott Hensley, a scientist at JPL and lead investigator for the study. "With these data we can see terrain features as small as a house without even leaving the office."


Above: The 70-meter antenna at the Goldstone complex
in California

NASA is eying the Moon's south polar region as a possible site for future outposts. The location has many advantages; for one thing, there is evidence of water frozen in deep dark south polar craters. Water can be split into oxygen to breathe and hydrogen to burn as rocket fuel--or astronauts could simply drink it. Planners are also looking for "peaks of eternal light." Tall polar mountains where the sun never sets might be a good place for a solar power station.

These are the highest-resolution maps to date. The best images, previously, were generated by the Clementine spacecraft, which could resolve lunar terrain features near the south pole at 1 kilometer per pixel. The JPL radar maps are 50 times more detailed.

As wonderful as they are, however, these images will pale in comparison to next-generation photos from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The spacecraft is scheduled to launch in late 2008 and its camera will beam back photos of the moon with details as small as 1 meter.

"The south pole of the Moon," says Cooke, is going to be "a beautiful place to explore."




Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter --mission home page

NASA's Future: The Vision for Space Exploration

Source: Science@NASA

The Northrop Grumman press release is reproduce below:

REDONDO BEACH, Calif., Feb. 27, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) is integrating the cameras, spectrometers and photometer comprising the nine instrument payload for the NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) onto the spacecraft. LCROSS will impact the moon to determine the presence of water ice in one of its permanently shadowed craters at the lunar South Pole.


The LCROSS payload is shown undergoing checkout following its arrival at Northrop
Grumman's manufacturing facility in Redondo Beach, Calif. Built by NASA Ames, the
payload consists of nine science instruments, weighs only 27.3 pounds (12.4 kilograms)
and was designed to provide multiple complementary measurements. Eight of LCROSS'
nine sensors are surrounded by a sunshade. The ninth LCROSS sensor views a
perpendicular plane during the final impact and is located to the lower right outside the
sunshade.

NASA Ames Research Center delivered all nine payload instruments to Northrop Grumman in mid-January, already assembled on a single, 30-by-40 inch spacecraft panel. The first step in integration, attaching electrical harnesses for power, telemetry and thermal control functions, has been completed, and the remaining steps will be completed over the next several weeks.

"Our entire approach to building, testing and integrating LCROSS was designed for speed," said Steve Hixson, vice president of Advanced Concepts for Northrop Grumman's Space Technology sector. "We're using innovative techniques to manage the LCROSS schedule, and this latest milestone is an outstanding example of the transparency between the government and industry teams that will be critical to our success. It's coming together very well, so we're already seeing the payoff in terms of schedule."

LCROSS is a fast track spacecraft development project. The Northrop Grumman-NASA team is utilizing streamlined acquisition and production processes to meet the mission's accelerated development schedule and cost constraints. Northrop Grumman expects to deliver the spacecraft about 26 months after the program start, less than half the time of a traditional spacecraft development program.

LCROSS and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, scheduled to launch at the end of the year aboard an Atlas V rocket, are the first American missions to return to the moon since the Lunar Prospector mission in 1999. LCROSS is the only current mission to the lunar surface. NASA scientists expect the impact plume will be visible from Earth with a medium-size (10-12 inch) amateur telescope.

LCROSS' nine science instruments, some of which were obtained commercially and qualified at NASA Ames, will analyze the plume from the impact for the presence of water ice or water vapor, hydrocarbons and hydrated materials. They consist of five cameras, operating in the visible, near infrared and mid-infrared light regimes; three spectrometers, operating in the ultraviolet, visible and near infrared; and one photometer operating in the visible light regime.

The LCROSS Spacecraft will ship to Florida late this summer for integration aboard the Atlas V launch vehicle. LCROSS will be launched as a secondary payload to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter from the NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Northrop Grumman is working under a $56 million contract to NASA Ames Research Center in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a $32 billion global defense and technology company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in information and services, electronics, aerospace and shipbuilding to government and commercial customers worldwide.

CONTACT:
Sally Koris
Northrop Grumman Space Technology
310.812.4721
sally.koris@ngc.com


Source: Northrop Grumman press release

LRO Assembly Progress
March 4. On February 28, 2008, we attached the -Y and -Z panels to the propulsion module, and we also installed the +X panel for stability. This major mechanical operation involved about a dozen engineers and technicians. Since that time, the flight Telemetry, Tracking, and Command unit arrived, and we integrated it with the spacecraft and tested it. On March 1st, the Diviner instrument arrived. We are checking it out this week.

The photo shows the Propulsion Module with the avionics panel (-Y) on the right and the Instrument Module panel (+Y) on the left. The panel with the reaction wheels (-Z) is on the other side of the Propulsion Module. The +X panel is on top. Our hardware is starting to look like a spacecraft.

+ Go to Assembly Progress

Source: NASA/GSFC - LRO

The press release is reproduced below:

Katherine Trinidad
Headquarters, Washington
202 358-3749
katherine.trinidad@nasa.gov

Candrea Thomas
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
candrea.k.thomas@nasa.gov



RELEASE: 08-079a

CORRECTION -- NASA Selects Scientists and Investigations for Robotic Moon Mission

The URL given for viewing the list of selected scientists announced in this press release was incorrect. The release should read: For a complete list of the selected scientists and their investigations, visit:



WASHINGTON - NASA has selected 24 scientists to initiate new investigations and assist with planned measurements to be conducted by the agency's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). Scheduled for launch later this year, LRO represents NASA's first step toward returning humans to the moon.

The orbiter will conduct a one-year primary mission exploring the moon, taking measurements to identify future robotic and human landing sites. In addition, it will study lunar resources and how the moon's environment will affect humans. The mission also will involve a spacecraft called the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), which will impact the lunar south pole to search for evidence of polar water frost.

"LRO is a phenomenal mission for NASA. It has dual use, both for exploration and for science," said Alan Stern, associate administrator, NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. "With the selection of these new investigators the LRO science team is bulked up and ready for flight, and interest in lunar science is building again at a rapid pace."

A German and a Canadian researcher are among the newly selected scientists that will work with orbiter instrument teams to define the science goals for the extended science phase of the mission, during its second year. In addition to achieving its exploration objectives, the spacecraft is expected to return high quality scientific data, such as day-night temperature maps, a global geodetic grid, high resolution color imaging and detailed global topography that will greatly expand our understanding of the moon.

NASA received a total of 55 proposals in response to a NASA Research Announcement released in 2007. A peer review panel and NASA Planetary Science Division Research and Analysis Program scientists evaluated the proposals. Selection criteria included intrinsic merit, relevance, responsiveness to planetary science goals and objectives, as well as cost.

Scientists will be fully or partially funded depending on their research work and scope of activities. NASA will provide funding to U.S. scientists for up to three years depending on satisfactory progress, continued relevance to NASA objectives and availability of funds. Funding levels are being evaluated.

The orbiter and the sensing satellite will launch together aboard an Atlas V rocket in late 2008. The orbiter's trip to the moon will take approximately four days. Once in its final orbit, a circular polar orbit approximately 31 miles above the moon, spacecraft instruments will map the moon's surface at high resolution, study its radiation field and map its gravity field.

The LCROSS will take several months to reach the moon. That mission will search for water astronauts could use at a future lunar outpost. The sensing spacecraft will impact the moon near its south pole early in 2009. NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., manages the mission.

In a study published in 2007, the National Academy of Sciences concluded that the science conducted on the moon is of high value. NASA's Science Mission Directorate will help coordinate and expand a number of in-depth research efforts in lunar science and other fields that can benefit from human and robotic missions to the moon. The lunar orbiter's science mission phase is one of the science directorate's many activities that support moon exploration activities.

The LRO spacecraft is being built and tested at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and includes six instruments and a technology demonstration.

For a complete list of the selected scientists and their investigations, visit:


or more information about the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, visit:


Source: NASA Press Release 08-079a

11 March 2008

This mosaic of the lunar south pole was obtained with images taken by the Advanced Moon Imaging Experiment (AMIE) on board ESA's SMART-1.

The pictures were taken between Dec 2005 and March 2006, during lunar southern summer. When obtaining the images, SMART-1 was flying over the south pole at a distance of about 500 km, allowing individual images with small-field (about 50 km across) high resolution views (50 m/pixel).

Each individual image includes areas imaged with colour filters and a more exposed area. The differences have been corrected accordingly to obtain this mosaic. The mosaic, composed of about 40 images obtained over more than 30 orbits, covers an area of about 500 by 150 km. The lunar near-side facing Earth is at the top of the map, while the far-side is at the bottom.

Credits: ESA/SMART-1/Space-X (Space Exploration Institute)

Newly-released images of the lunar south-polar region obtained by ESA’s SMART-1 are proving to be wonderful tools to zero-in on suitable study sites for potential future lunar exploration missions.

SMART-1’s Advanced Moon Imaging Experiment (AMIE) has collected many images of the lunar south-polar region, with unprecedented spatial resolution. The images, obtained over a full year of changing seasons were used to study the different levels of solar illumination on the Moon’s surface.

The orientation of the lunar rotation axis is such that the Sun just about grazes the lunar poles, leaving some regions permanently shadowed.

Shackleton crater is located in the inner ring of the south pole Aitken basin, the largest known impact basin in the solar system. It has a diameter of 2600 km.

The south pole is located on the rim of Shackleton crater. SMART-1 took images around the crater, which is a strong contender for a future robotic and human exploration site and for a permanent human base.

The polar mosaics show geological features of interest within reach from the south pole. Monitoring of the illumination of selected polar sites has allowed scientists to confirm that a ridge located 10 km from the Shackleton rim is prominently illuminated, and could be a strong contender for a potential future lunar outpost.

The large number of impact craters in the area indicates that the terrain is ancient. An example is crater Amundsen, 105 km in diameter, lying 100 km from the pole. It shows central peaks and asymmetric terraces that deserve geological and geochemistry studies.


This mosaic of the lunar south pole was obtained with images taken by the Advanced Moon Imaging Experiment (AMIE) on board ESA's SMART-1. The pictures were taken between Dec 2005 and March 2006, during the lunar southern summer. The mosaic, composed of about 40 images, covers an area of about 500 by 150 km. The lunar near-side facing Earth is at the top of the map, while the far-side is at the bottom. A number of interesting lunar craters are indicated:

Shackleton, visible left-centre of the mosaic, is the crater which contains the lunar south pole within its rim. It is nearly circular (about 19 km across, centered at 89.9° south, 0.0° east), with a clear rim and a relatively flat crater floor marked by smaller craters inside. The southern part of its interior is permanently in shadow, making it difficult to image, but it is expected to be bowl-shape due to its modest size. It was named after the British polar explorer Ernest Shackleton.

Faustini, in the centre of the mosaic (87.3° south, 77.0° east), is a crater about 39 km across. The Lunar Prospector mission found that this crater has a higher-than-normal concentration of hydrogen. It was named after the Italian polar geographer explorer Arnaldo Faustini (1872-1944).

Shoemaker crater has been named after the geologist whose ashes were on board the Lunar Prospector spacecraft that impacted on the crater floor. 50 km in diameter, the crater is centred at 89.9° south, 0.0° east and is located between the Shackleton and Faustini craters. Lunar Prospector found that this crater has a higher-than-normal concentration of hydrogen. On July 1999, the mission crashed into the crater to create a plume of water vapor, but no detection was reported.

De Gerlache crater (diameter 32 km, centered at 88.5° south, 87.1° west) is located near Shackleton crater. Its floor is permanently shadowed. On the SMART-1 AMIE mosaic an illuminated saddle can be seen, bridging its rim to Shackleton. The crater is named after Adrien de Gerlache (1866, 1934), the Belgian antarctic explorer.

Amundsen is a large impact crater, about 105 km across, located along the southern lunar limb (84.5° south, 82.8° east), with its rim situated 110 km from the south pole. From Earth, this crater is viewed nearly from the side, illuminated by oblique sunlight. The crater rim is slightly distended along the southern edge, and the terraced surface is asymmetrical. Central peaks, that were formed from the rebound of the crust after the impact are quite apparent with their shadow projected over the flat floor.

Credits: ESA/SMART-1/Space-X (Space Exploration Institute)

The Lunar Prospector mission had previously indicated evidence of enhanced hydrogen in the permanent shadowed floors of polar craters, possible sign of water ice – a relevant element when choosing a human outpost.

As to whether or not ice could still be trapped under the floor of polar craters, the former SMART-1 Project Scientist Bernard Foing said, “To understand whether or not water is possibly present at the south pole, we have to take into account the following factors: how volatile elements were delivered to the lunar surface by comets or water-rich asteroids, whether they were destroyed or persisted under a dust cover and for how long they were able to accumulate.”

“The polar regions are still lunar incognita, and it is critical to explore them and study their geological history,” he added.

Using SMART-1 images, SMART-1 AMIE investigators and US collaborators have also counted small impact craters on Shackleton ejecta blanket to estimate the age of the crater. They have found that the number of craters is twice that of Apollo 15 landing site, which would make the Shackleton crater between 3.6 to 4.3 thousand million years old.

“Previous investigators believed Shackleton to be much younger, but that could be due to grazing illumination at the poles, which enhances the topography, mimicking a younger crater.”

So, in view of SMART-1 observations, the south polar site looks even more interesting with the confirmation of prominently-lit sites, and the indication of old craters where ice could have had more time to accumulate in permanently-shadowed areas.

“The SMART-1 south polar maps indicate very exciting targets for science and future exploration, within travel reach from a rover or humans at the south pole”, says Jean-Luc Josset, Principal Investigator for the AMIE.


Notes:

These high-resolution SMART-1 south polar mosaics were produced and analysed in the framework of a study project for the design and operations of lunar polar robotic landers and rovers, by Marina Ellouzi, a Master’s student in space engineering at the Paris-Meudon Observatory. The south polar mosaics, SMART-1 highlights, and results on the geology and illumination of Shackleton crater are being presented and discussed by the SMART-1 AMIE team and collaborators at the 39th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference at League City, Texas between 11-12 March 2008.


For more information:

Bernard Foing, ESA's former SMART-1 Project scientist
Email: Bernard.Foing @esa.int

Jean-Luc Josset, SMART-1 AMIE Principal Investigator, Space-X Space Exploration Institute
Email : Jean-Luc.Josset @ space-x.ch

Source: ESA - News

LRO Assembly Progress
March 13. Today we integrated the +Y panel on the Orbiter. This panel supports the instrument module. Last week, we confirmed compatibility with the Universal Space Network, ensuring that our ground stations will be able to communicate with the Orbiter. This week, we completed electrical integration of the propulsion module and the reaction wheels. We performed the end-to-end test of the propulsion system, blowing gas from our tanks out through the latch valves and the thrusters, using the spacecraft electronics to control everything. The LEND instrument is on its way to Goddard Space Flight Center.

The mechanical team attaches the instrument module panel to the Orbiter. You can see the lifting sling at the top of the photo, with the crane above the field of view. The module has all the harnessing and heaters in place, ready for the installation of t