LRO Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission.

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Re: LRO/LCROSS Mission

MeteorWayne":2df2d5rx said:
What a team we are :)

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: We certainly are Wayne & one I am proud of. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I am at work tomorrow for the orbital insertion, but will try & look in to see what has happened. If not I will definately check at Lunch Time & update accordingly.

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: This is fantastic stuff. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

The LCROSS lunar encounter with the test streaming should be very spectacular. Can't wait to see the images & hopefully the video eventually. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Andrew Brown.
 
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MeteorWayne

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Re: LRO/LCROSS Mission

In addition to the LCROSS Web streaming event listed above (Not on NASA TV),

NASA TV will be covering the LRO orbital insertion live.

June 23, Tuesday
5 - 6:30 a.m. EDT- LRO Spacecraft Enters Lunar Orbit - Live Event - GSFC (Public, Media and HD Channel)
 
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3488

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Still no LROC test images as yet.

It is getting late here. I'm off to sleep now, but will check in ASAP tomorrow & for any further news then.

Looking forward to the LCROSS encounter, as LCROSS will be placed into a giant geocentric polar orbit (IIRC it will be the largest ever polar orbit to date around Earth of any manmade object) that should be very special. Hope still images will be posted as ATM I cannot view video.

LRO should enter lunar orbit hopefully without incident.

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Anyway Good night. Should be a GREAT day tomorrow. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Andrew Brown.
 
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MeteorWayne

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Re: LRO/LCROSS Mission

LCROSS UPDATE:

Mission Update June 22
Mon, 22 Jun 2009 05:44:12 PM EDT


The flight team successfully completed the third trajectory correction
maneuver (TCM) at approximately 4:00 a.m. PDT as the spacecraft prepares to
execute its lunar swingby. At 6:00 a.m. PDT the spacecraft was approximately
218,000 miles (350,000 km) from the Earth and 47,000 miles (75,000 km) from
the moon. All systems nominal.

The science operations team, successfully conducted a star field calibration
of the science instruments. The team pointed the LCROSS cameras and
spectrometers at a known pattern of stars. With the star Altair in the field
of view of the ultraviolet/visible spectrometer, the team checked the
post-launch instrument alignment of the science instruments. During this
activity the Telescope Aperture Door Assembly (TADA) is open. This door
protects the very sensitive spectrometers and total luminance photometer
from inadvertent exposure to light.

At approximately, 3:30 PDT on June 23, the spacecraft will make its closest
approach to the moon or periselene. LCROSS will then perform the lunar flyby
maneuver traveling south to north along the far-side of the moon. The
spacecraft will conduct a survey of selected sites on the moon and the lunar
horizon. Stay tuned for live streaming coverage of the lunar swingby
starting at 5:20 a.m. PDT!
 
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Quick chime in.

Half way through the 40 minute Orbital insertion burn & all is going very well.

Andrew Brown.
 
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LRO has acheived the desired orbit around the Moon. Orbital insertion was successful.

Great one NASA & very well done. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Andrew Brown.
 
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MeteorWayne

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Re: LRO/LCROSS Mission

LRO Enters Orbit Around the Moon
Tue, 23 Jun 2009 06:28:52 AM EDT


After a successful insertion rocket burn on the morning of June 23, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's orbit was established shortly before 6:30 a.m. EDT.

Rocket burns initiated by controllers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., have helped the moon capture LRO, which arrived after a five-day journey.

Now LRO begins its primary mission of mapping the lunar surface to find future landing sites and searching for resources that would make possible a permanent human presence on the moon.

Over the next several days, LRO's instruments will be turned on and its final orbit around the moon will be reached.

Edit:
Recall this orbit is intended as a 216 X 30 KM commissioning orbit, which after 60 days will become a 50 km circular orbit for the 1 year primary mission.
 
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MarkStanaway

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Re: LRO/LCROSS Mission

Its great to see LRO enter lunar orbit
Let the exploration begin!! This is starting to feel like old times
I see that NASA is now using the terms Aposelene and Periselene to describe the high and low points of the lunar orbit.
During Apollo they used Apocynthion and Pericynthion to describe these points.I wonder what bought about the change?
I have also seen the terms Apolune and Perilune used.
 
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MeteorWayne

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Re: LRO/LCROSS Mission

Automated Timed Sequence
Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:39:47 AM EDT


The LCROSS mission operations team at NASA's Ames Research Center has issued the start of an automated timed sequence to command the spacecraft into the proper orientation to collect observations of the lunar surface.


Web streaming starts at 8:10 AM EDT in about 15 minutes
 
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aphh

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Re: LRO/LCROSS Mission

It took almost 40 years, but looks like we're finally back! What did we do during the years we were not on the Moon?
 
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MeteorWayne

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Re: LRO/LCROSS Mission

aphh":29wh7zs6 said:
It took almost 40 years, but looks like we're finally back! What did we do during the years we were not on the Moon?

We explored The Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and it's Moons, Saturn and it's rings and moons, Uranus, Neptune, Several Comets and asteroids, Exoplanets, stars and galaxies, .....etc :)
 
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JonClarke

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Re: LRO/LCROSS Mission

aphh":8tja7ftl said:
It took almost 40 years, but looks like we're finally back! What did we do during the years we were not on the Moon?

We never really stopped sending spacecraft to the Moon. Since the end of Apollo in 1972 there have been the following lunar missions.

1973 Luna 21(Lunokhod 2)

1974 Luna 22 and 23

1976 Luna 24

1990 Galileo, Hagaromo and Hiten

1992 Galileo

1994 Clementine

1998 Lunar Prospector

2003 SMART-1

2007 Chang'e-1, Kaguya, Okina, Ouna

2008 Chandrarayan and Moon Impact Probe

2009 LRO and LCROSS

Jon
 
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First LROC image. NAC.

WOW. :eek: :eek: :shock: :eek:

1.4 KM wide section. North is up, east is right. Few KM east of Hell E Crater in the Deslandres Impact region, south of Imbrium. 3 metre resolution.
FirstLROCNACLRO.jpg


Second LROC NAC image here. Few KM east of Hell E Crater in the Deslandres Impact region, south of Imbrium. 3 metre resolution.
1.4 KM wide section. North is up, east is right.
SecondLROCNACLRO-1.jpg


Worth mentioning, in August LRO descends to it's science orbt, so these images are actually no where near as sharp as those yet to come, from August onwards.

*Edited, rotated images so north is up, east is right. Moon was a Waxing Gibbous so sunlight is coming from the right, not left.....* This area is on the Earth facing side of the Moon.

Andrew Brown.
 
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First sequence of seven filters on the LROC WAC.

Parallel lines represent area imaged by NAC.

This is going so well. :mrgreen:

wac_color_fig.png


Andrew Brown.
 
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MeteorWayne

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Re: LRO/LCROSS Mission

Thanx Andrew....this is going to be a fun mission!!
 
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MeteorWayne":1w7ucf9p said:
Thanx Andrew....this is going to be a fun mission!!

You are very welcome my freind. This mission is going to be enormous fun, I totally agree 100% with you there. Already I have my science cap on & have noticed three interesting things already, & these are only test images. When the primary mission starts properly I will be in my element. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I thought that you may like the following.

My first crop & enlargement from the LRO mission.

A 560 metre wide section from first LROC NAC image.
Notice the very linear pattern of craters & terrain. Certainly secondaries & blast from an impact to the N E.
FirstLROCNAC560metrecropLRO.jpg


A 600 metre wide section from first LROC NAC image.
Similar to first crop, more linear craters & blast streaks.
First600metrewidecropLROCNACLRO.jpg


A 560 metre wide section from second LROC NAC image.
Hundreds of blocks & boulders litter the surface here under the rising sun.
Second560metrecropbouldersLROCNACLR.jpg


Andrew Brown.
 
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aphh

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Re: LRO/LCROSS Mission

Yup. This is it.

If there is something on the Moon, we will see it this time. Unless, ofcourse, the phenomena is hidden in one of the permanently shadowed craters.

But what about the viewing angle, will all pictures be taken straight down? Or will there be images with horizon, like Kagya did, just higher resolution?
 
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job1207

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Re: LRO/LCROSS Mission

Look, there is a man on the moon. Seriously, this space race thing is great. Great Pictures of the Moon and more to come.
 
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3488

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Another LROC NAC test image, this time from only 56 KM altitude.

Caption does not state resolution or area, but my guess is that its only a few hundred metres wide.

Highland terrain to the north east of Clavius. I've rotated it so that north is top, east is right.

SoutheastofClaviusLRO.png


**Edited as this is in the highlands North East of Clavius, not S E.**

Andrew Brown.
 
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Crop & enlargement of small section from top right of frame released yesterday.
Tiny craters in my estimation no more than a few metres across (NASA did not release area or resolution of the image yesterday, so I'm just guessing) are seen against he so called 'elephant skin terrain' the reason for which is not well understood.

It was spotted by the Apollo CM images as well as the five pre Apollo Lunar Orbiters & shows up mostly on only high resolution images as these. I cannot see any boulders in this patch, though there plenty of tiny craters.
TinypatchofhighlandNEofClaviusNA-1.jpg


Crop & enlargement of degraded small crater in the bottom left of image above.

This is clearly ancient as degraded, well on the way to becoming a ghost crater, dust appears to cover the floor & there are indications of dust covered boulders.
TinycraterinhighlandsNEofClavius-1.jpg


Andrew Brown.
 
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A frame centred on 75 degrees, 6' North, 9 degrees 20' West. I have rotated the frame & both crops so north is top, east is right. LROC on Thursday took mostly night side images that were just a 'noise' (measuring hot pixels, etc) test. However at times the LROC captured some terrain on the terminator. The frame in the Lunar Arctic being one.

7511N935EfullframeLRO.jpg


Interesting crops from the above image. Resolution: 3.73 Metres. Near Crater Goldschmidt D.

7511N935ELRO.jpg


7511N935E2LRO.jpg


Andrew Brown.
 
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3488

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Some more amazing stuff released today & a few more of my crops & enlargements from the full res shots.

Whilst these are still from test shots, these images have a real haunting beauty to them.

Rim of Anagoraxas A. 72.18 North 8.85 West. Cropped enlargements have a resoluion of 1.85 Metres.
RimofAnaxagorasA7218N885WLRO.jpg


Enlargement surrounding tiny ray crater. Rim of Anagoraxas A. 72.18 North 8.85 West.
RimofAnaxagorasAcloseupLRO.jpg


North of Mare Frigoris. 62.12 North. 9.01 West. Cropped enlargements have a resoluion of 3.60 Metres.
NorthofMareFrigoris6212N901WLRO.jpg


Enlargement of a Hill to the North of Mare Frigoris. 62.12 North. 9.01 West.
NorthofMareFrigoriscloseupofhill262.jpg


Another hill to the north of Frigoris. 62.12 North. 9.01 West.
NorthofMareFrigoriscloseupofhill621.jpg


South of Mare Frigoris. 56.64 North. 7.16 West. Cropped enlargements have a resoluion of 1.76 Metres.
SouthofFrigoris5648N716W.jpg


Small 300 metre wide crater to the south of Mare Frigoris. 56.64 North. 7.16 West.
SouthofFrigorisSmallcraterapprox300.jpg


Small hill with boulders to the south of Mare Frigoris. 56.64 North. 7.16 West.
SouthofMareFrigorishillwithboulders.jpg


I will be back with some more.

Andrew Brown.
 
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As threatened, er promised earlier, I have returned with more here. It takes time to go through the images & find the interesting features.

Northwest of Anaxagoras A. 72.21 North 9.79 West. Cropped enlargements have a resoluion of 1.85 Metres.
NorthwestofAnaxagorasA7221N789WLRO.jpg


Boulder northwest of Anaxagoras A. 72.21 North 9.79 West.
BoulderNorthwestofAnaxagorasA7221N7.jpg


Conical outcrop northwest of Anaxagoras A. 72.21 North 9.79 West.
OutcropsNorthwestofAnaxagorasA7221N.jpg


Boulders & outcrops northwest of Anaxagoras A. 72.21 North 9.79 West.
BouldersoutcropsNorthwestofAnaxagor.jpg


Those who are observant will notice the solar illumination is coming from the left, however north is still top, east is still right, because these are the first lunar far side LRO LROC images. On Thursday LRO took some of the sharpest, if not the sharpest images to date of the lunar farside.

SW of Farside crater Tsinger at dusk. 54.71 North. 173.22 East. Cropped enlargements have a resoluion of 3.46 Metres.
SWofTsinger5471N17322ELRO.jpg


Detail of SW of Farside crater Tsinger at dusk. 54.71 North. 173.22 East.
SWofTsingercloseup35471N17322ELRO.jpg


Another close up of detail of SW of Farside crater Tsinger at dusk. 54.71 North. 173.22 East.
SWofTsingercloseup25471N17322ELRO.jpg


Andrew Brown.
 
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A set of Lunar Farside crops from today's release (which is a long thin strip).

Region close to Crater north polar far side crater Rozdestvenskiy W. These craops are from close to the Moon's north pole on the Farside. North is up, east is right, sun setting to the left. Resolution 3.72 Metres.

Close to Rozhdestvenskiy W Crater 86.72 North 144. 55 East.
RozhdestvenskiyWCrater8672N14455ELR.jpg


Close to Rozhdestvenskiy W Crater 86.72 North 144. 55 East. Note some layering visible in a hill.
RozhdestvenskiyWCrater68672N14455EL.jpg


Close to Rozhdestvenskiy W Crater 86.72 North 144. 55 East. So called Elephant Skin terrain.
RozhdestvenskiyWCrater58672N14455EL.jpg


Close to Rozhdestvenskiy W Crater 86.72 North 144. 55 East.
RozhdestvenskiyWCrater48672N14455EL.jpg


Close to Rozhdestvenskiy W Crater 86.72 North 144. 55 East. Shadowy terrain in the lunar farside arctic.
RozhdestvenskiyWCrater38672N14455EL.jpg


Close to Rozhdestvenskiy W Crater 86.72 North 144. 55 East. Shadowy terrain in the lunar farside arctic.
RozhdestvenskiyWCrater28672N14455EL.jpg


Andrew Brown.
 
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