Waspie_Dwarf Posted September 13, 2013 #1 Share Posted September 13, 2013 LADEE Project Manager Update: Perigee Maneuver 1 Complete AThe LADEE Observatory has completed the checkout phase of the mission, and is now in the cruise phase on the way to the moon. We are currently in elliptic orbits around Earth, called phasing loops, and will continue with two more of these elliptical orbits until LADEE is captured around the moon using an initial Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI-1) burn on Sunday Oct. 6th. After that we are in lunar orbit.The major activities this past week included testing the LADEE main engine for the first time. This was done in a maneuver called Apogee Maneuver-1 (AM-1). We originally planned to perform AM-1 on Tuesday, Sept 10, but when we were doing thermal conditioning rolls prior to AM-1, the spacecraft went into Safe Mode because of a combination of the roll rate and an alignment error between the two star tracker camera heads. We cancelled the planned AM-1 while we worked on the issue, and rescheduled it for the next day. The alignment calibration of the star tracker heads was updated, the thermal roll rate adjusted, and the revised AM-1 burn was successfully completed 4 p.m. PDT Sept. 11. Read more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted September 14, 2013 Author #2 Share Posted September 14, 2013 Ames Center Director Pete Worden - LADEE Thank You NASA Ames Research Center Director S. Pete Worden shares his (and his Center's) thanks with the team that supported the successful launch of LADEE, America's next mission to the moon.The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer rocketed into space from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, Wallops Island, Virginia on September 6. The spacecraft will orbit the moon to study the amount and characteristics of lunar dust in the Moon's extremely thin atmosphere.For more information about the LADEE mission, please visit: http://www.nasa.gov/LADEEFor more information about NASA Ames, please visit: http://www.nasa.gov/amesCredit: NASA/Ames Research CenterSource: NASA/Ames - Multimedia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now