William Atkins
Tuesday, 23 June 2009 18:41
Science -
Space
Page 2 of 3
The ground controllers at GSFC are now preparing four more maneuvers over the next four days so that the spacecraft will transit from its preliminary lunar orbit to what is being called is “commissioning phase” orbit.
This commissioning phase, a sixty-day process, involves turning on and checkout out the spacecrafts seven instruments.
At the end of this phase, the spacecraft will be transferred to its primary mission orbit by another maneuver. The burn will take the craft into a lowly orbit of 50 kilometers (30 miles) above the lunar surface.
This orbit is considered the lowest orbit ever used by an orbiting spacecraft above the Moon.
The primary one-year mission of LRO, which cost about $504 million, will then commence, which involves taking high-resolution, three-dimensional images of the lunar surface and analyzing its surface at several wavelengths of light (radiation).
It will also look for landing sites for future unmanned and manned missions, along with a goal to search for hidden water ice at the poles of the Moon.
After the one-year period is completed, the LRO spacecraft will continue further scientific surveys of the Moon.
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