NASAs Lunar Mapping Duo Encapsulated and Ready for Sept. 8 Liftoff

Twin GRAIL Lunar Mappers being enclosed with payload fairing atop Delta II rocket. Spacecraft technicians monitor the movement of a section of the clamshell-shaped Delta payload fairing as it encloses NASA's twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory spacecraft at Space Launch Complex 17B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Liftoff is slated for Sept. 8 at 8:37 a.m. EDT. Credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

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NASA’s powerful lunar mapping duo of GRAIL spacecraft are now poised for liftoff in just one weeks time on Thursday, Sept. 8.

Mission managers held a Flight Readiness Review on Wednesday (Aug.31) and gave a tentative approval to begin fueling the Delta II rockets second stage on Sept. 2 and 3 after evaluating all issues related to the rocket, launch pad and payloads.

Launch preparations are proceeding on schedule towards an early morning lift off from the seaside Space Launch Complex 17B (SLC-17B) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. There are two instantaneous launch windows at 8:37:06 a.m. and 9:16:12 a.m. EDT lasting one second each.

“Launch vehicle and spacecraft closeouts will begin on Tuesday, and the Launch Readiness Review is also scheduled for Tuesday morning,” NASA KSC spokesman George Diller told Universe Today.

“This morning’s launch countdown dress rehearsal went fine.”

“Delta II 2nd stage fueling has been rescheduled for Friday and Saturday [Sept. 2 and 3]. Last evening a software error was found in the launch processing system data base. ULA (United Launch Alliance) decided they would like to look for any additional errors before the fueling begins. There is no impact to the launch date and currently no work is scheduled on Sunday or on Labor Day,” said Diller.

The launch period extends through Oct. 19, with liftoff occurring approximately four minutes earlier each day in case of a delay. The flight plan was designed to avoid a pair of lunar eclipses occurring on December 10th, 2011 and June 4th 2012 which would interfere with the missions operations and science.

The team is keeping a close watch on the weather as the season’s next Atlantic Ocean storm heads westwards. Katia has just been upgraded to Hurricane status and follows closely on the heels of the continuing vast destruction, misery and deaths caused by Hurricane Irene earlier this week.

“The preliminary weather forecast is favorable for launch day as long as the wind remains out of the west as is currently forecast for that time of the morning,” Diller told me.

Twin GRAIL Lunar Mappers are secured atop Delta II rocket and await enclose in the Delta payload fairing. The fairing will protect the spacecraft from the impact of aerodynamic pressure and heating during ascent and will be jettisoned once the spacecraft is outside the Earth's atmosphere. Credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

The twin probes known as GRAIL-A and GRAIL-B (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory) were encapsulated inside the clamshell like payload fairing on Aug. 23 The nearly identical spacecraft are mounted side by side and sit atop the Centaur upper stage.

The fairing shields the spacecraft from aerodynamic pressures, friction and extreme heating for the first few minutes of flight during ascent through the Earth atmosphere.

This Delta II Heavy booster rocket is the most powerful version of the Delta II family built by ULA. The booster’s first stage is augmented with larger diameter solid rocket motors.

GRAIL was processed for launch inside at the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. See my GRAIL spacecraft photos from inside the Astrotech clean room facilities here.

“The GRAIL spacecraft inside the handling can departed Astrotech and arrived at the launch pad, SLC-17B on Aug. 18” said Tim Dunn, NASA’s Delta II Launch Director in an interview with Universe Today. “The spacecraft was then hoisted by crane onto the Delta II launch vehicle and the spacecraft mate operation was flawlessly executed by the combined ULA and NASA Delta II Team.”

An Integrated Systems Test (IST) of the mated booster and payload was completed on Aug. 22

Technicians prepare twin GRAIL spacecraft for enclosure in the Delta payload fairing. Credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

The dynamic duo will orbit the moon in a tandam formation just 50 kilometers above the lunar surface with an average separation of 200 km. During the 90 day science phase the goal is to determine the structure of the lunar interior from crust to core and to advance understanding of the thermal evolution of the moon.

GRAIL-A & GRAIL-B will measure the lunar gravity field with unprecedented resolution up to 100 times improvement on the near side and 1000 times improvement for the far side.

NASA’s twin GRAIL Science Probes ready for Lunar Expedition
GRAIL B (left) and GRAIL A (right) spacecraft are mounted side by side on top of a payload adapter inside the clean room at Astrotech Space Operations facility. The spacecraft await lunar launch on Sept. 8, 2011. Credit: Ken Kremer

Read Ken’s continuing features about GRAIL

GRAIL Lunar Twins Mated to Delta Rocket at Launch Pad
GRAIL Twins ready for NASA Science Expedition to the Moon: Photo Gallery

First Image Captured by NASAs Jupiter bound Juno; Earth – Moon Portrait

Earth & Moon Portrait - First Photo transmitted from Jupiter Bound Juno. This image of Earth (on the left) and the moon (on the right) was taken by NASA's Juno spacecraft on Aug. 26, 2011, when the spacecraft was about 6 million miles (9.66 million kilometers) away. It was taken by the spacecraft's onboard camera, JunoCam. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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NASA’s solar powered Jupiter bound Juno orbiter has captured her first image – a beautiful portrait of the Earth & Moon – since the probe blasted off from the home planet.

Juno lifted off 25 days ago at 12: 25 p.m. on August 5 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft snapped the portrait with the onboard JunoCam camera on August 26 after journeying some 6 million miles (9.66 million km) from Earth and while traveling at a velocity of 77,600 miles per hour (124,900 kilometers per hour) relative to the sun.

“The image of the Earth Moon system is a rather unique perspective that we can get only by stepping outside of our home planet,” said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator, in an exclusive interview with Universe Today. Bolton is from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.

“On our way to Jupiter, we’ve looked back at home and managed to take this amazing image.”

“Earth looking much like any other planet or star from a distance is glorious as this somewhat average looking “star” is home to all of humanity. Our companion, the moon, so beautiful and important to us, stands out even less.”

“We appear almost average and inconspicuous, yet all of our history originates here. It makes one wonder just how many other planets or solar systems might contain life like ours,” Bolton told me.

Juno casts a shadow back toward Earth and Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A and the shuttle crawler way (at left) seconds after liftoff from adjacent Launch Pad 41 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. View from the VAB Roof. Credit: Ken Kremer

The Juno team commanded the probe to take the image as part of the checkout phase of the vehicles instruments and subsystems.

“The JunoCam instrument turn on and check out were planned activities. The instrument is working great and in fact, all the instruments that we’ve turned on thus far have been working great,” Bolton added.

So far the spacecraft is in excellent health and the team has completed the checkout of the Waves instrument and its two Flux Gate Magnetometer sensors and deployment of its V-shaped electric dipole antenna.

“We have a couple more instruments still to do,” Bolton noted.

The team reports that Juno also performed its first precession, or reorientation maneuver, using its thrusters and that the first trajectory control maneuver (TCM-1) was cancelled as unnecessary because of the extremely accurate targeting provided by the Atlas V rocket.

The portrait shot is actually not Juno’s last photo of her home.

The 8000 pound (3,600 kilogram) probe will fly by Earth once more on October 9, 2013 for a gravity assisted speed boost of 16,330 MPH (7.3 km/sec) to accelerate Juno past the asteroid belt on its long journey to the Jovian system.

Juno soars skyward to Jupiter on Aug. 5 from launch pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 12:25 p.m. EDT. View from the VAB roof. Credit: Ken Kremer

JunoCam will collect new photos and the other science instruments will make measurements as Juno cartwheels past Earth during the slingshot to Jupiter.

Juno is on a 5 year and 1.7 Billion mile (2.8 Billion km) trek to the largest planet in our solar system. When she arrives at Jupiter on July 4, 2016, Juno will become the first polar orbiting spacecraft at the gas giant.

During a one year science mission – entailing 33 orbits lasting 11 days each – the probe will plunge to within about 3000 miles (5000 km) of the turbulent cloud tops and collect unprecedented new data that will unveil the hidden inner secrets of Jupiter’s genesis and evolution.

The goal is to find out more about the planets origins, interior structure and atmosphere, observe the aurora, map the intense magnetic field and investigate the existence of a solid planetary core.

“This is a remarkable sight people get to see all too rarely,” said Bolton in a NASA statement about the Earth-Moon photo. “This view of our planet shows how Earth looks from the outside, illustrating a special perspective of our role and place in the universe. We see a humbling yet beautiful view of ourselves.”

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the Juno mission. The spacecraft was designed and built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Juno and Booster Streak Across the Stars
NASA's Juno spacecraft and its spent Centaur upper rocket stage are captured in this telescope view as they move across the field of stars. The five-minute, timed exposure was acquired on Aug. 5 11:18pm Eastern time (Aug. 6 at 3:18 UTC) when Juno was at a distance of about 195,000 miles (314,000 kilometers) from Earth. The images were taken remotely by amateur astronomer Scott Ferguson using Global Rent-a-Scope's GRAS-016 Takahashi Widefield Refractor, which is located in Nerpio, Spain. Credit: Scott Ferguson
Juno Spacecraft Cruise Trajectory to Jupiter
This graphic shows Juno's trajectory, or flight path, from Earth to Jupiter. The spacecraft travels around the Sun, to a point beyond the orbit of Mars where it fires its main engine a couple of times. These deep space maneuvers set up the Earth flyby maneuver that occurs approximately two years after launch. The Earth flyby gives Juno the boost in velocity it needs to coast all the way to Jupiter. Juno arrives at Jupiter in July 2016. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
View of Juno’s position on Aug. 24, 2011 nearly 6 million miles distant from Earth visualized by NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System website.

Read my continuing features about Juno
Juno Blasts off on Science Trek to Discover Jupiter’s Genesis
Juno Jupiter Orbiter poised at Launch Pad for Aug. 5 Blastoff
JUNO Orbiter Mated to Mightiest Atlas rocket for Aug. 5 Blastoff to Jupiter
Solar Powered Jupiter bound JUNO lands at Kennedy Space Center

When Do You Think Humans Will Return to the Moon?

When will this happen again?

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We’re conducting a completely informal, unscientific, off-the-cuff survey of Universe Today readers. When do you think that humans will return to the Moon?

Just give us your responses in the comments. We’re thinking of pulling your answers together to try and wrangle the zeitgeist about human space exploration.

GRAIL Lunar Twins Mated to Delta Rocket at Launch Pad

GRAIL Lunar Twins hoisted to top of Launch Pad 17B at Cape Canaveral. NASA's twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft are lifted to the top of their launch pad at Space Launch Complex 17B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and were mated to their Delta II Heavy Booster Rocket. They are wrapped in plastic to prevent contamination outside the clean room. Launch is scheduled for Sept. 8. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

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With blastoff just 2 ½ weeks away, NASA’s GRAIL lunar twins completed a major milestone towards launch today (Aug. 18) when they were mated to the top of the Delta II Heavy rocket that will boost them to the moon. Launch is slated for Sept. 8 at 8:37 a.m. EDT.

This morning the tightly wrapped $496 Million duo took their last trip on Earth before beginning their nearly four month journey to the Moon. GRAIL A & GRAIL B were carefully transported 15 miles (25 km) from the clean room processing facility at the Astrotech Space Operation’s payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla to Space Launch Complex 17B (SLC-17B) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

“The GRAIL spacecraft transportation convoy to SLC-17B departed Astrotech at 11:55 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Aug. 17, “ said Tim Dunn, NASA’s Delta II Launch Director in an interview with Universe Today. “The spacecraft, inside the handling can, arrived at the launch pad, SLC-17B, at 4:00 a.m. this morning.”

“The spacecraft was then hoisted by the Mobile Service Tower crane onto the Delta II launch vehicle and the spacecraft mate was complete at 9:30 a.m.”

Crane lifts GRAIL A & B to the top of the Mobile Service Tower on Aug. 18. The probes are wrapped in protective plastic sheeting inside the handling can. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Technicians joined the nearly identical and side by side mounted spacecraft onto the top of the guidance section adapter of the Delta’s second stage. The Delta II was built by United Launch Alliance (ULA).

“Tomorrow, the GRAIL spacecraft team will perform functional testing on both the GRAIL A and GRAIL B spacecraft,” Dunn told me.

“The next major milestone will be performance of the Integrated Systems Test (IST) on Monday, (8/22/11).

“Today’s spacecraft mate operation was flawlessly executed by the combined ULA and NASA Delta II Team,” said Dunn.

These tests will confirm that the spacecraft is healthy after the fueling and transport operations. After further reviews of the rocket and spacecraft systems the GRAIL team will install the payload fairing around the lunar probes.

NASA’s twin GRAIL Science Probes ready for Lunar Expedition
GRAIL B (left) and GRAIL A (right) spacecraft are mounted side by side on top of a payload adapter inside the clean room at Astrotech Space Operations facility. The spacecraft await lunar launch on Sept. 8, 2011. Credit: Ken Kremer

NASA’s dynamic duo will orbit the moon to determine the structure of the lunar interior from crust to core and to advance understanding of the thermal evolution of the moon.

“We are about to finish one chapter in the GRAIL story and open another,” said Maria Zuber, GRAIL’s principal investigator, based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge in a statement. “Let me assure you this one is a real page-turner. GRAIL will rewrite the book on the formation of the moon and the beginning of us.”

The GRAIL launch will be the last for a Delta II in Florida.

GRAIL A & B lunar twins arrive at Pad 17B. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Technicians hoist GRAIL A & B lunar twins inside the handling can at Pad 17B. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Read my prior features about GRAIL
GRAIL Twins ready for NASA Science Expedition to the Moon: Photo Gallery

Rewriting Lunar History

NASA Science News Lunar Image Credt: Sylvain Weiller

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We thought we knew everything there was to know about our Moon, but new investigations into its volcanic origins are causing scientists to take another look at how our nearest astronomical neighbor formed – and its age. If you like a little lunacy in your life, then step inside and read more…

A team of scientists led by Carnegie’s Erik Hauri have been busy studying seven tiny Apollo 17 return samples with a a state-of-the-art NanoSIMS 50L ion microprobe. These little pieces of lunar “evidence” are fragments of lunar magma which contain crystals called “melt inclusions”. High in titanium content, these crystals were once a part of volcanic glass beads ejected in explosive volcanic eruptions. The cool part is these melt inclusions coughed up from the lunar depths eons ago yielded a discovery – the magma trapped within crystals show a hundred times more water than once believed.

“In contrast to most volcanic deposits, the melt inclusions are encased in crystals that prevent the escape of water and other volatiles during eruption. These samples provide the best window we have to the amount of water in the interior of the Moon,” said James Van Orman of Case Western Reserve University, a member of the science team. The paper’s authors are Hauri; Thomas Weinreich, Alberto Saal and Malcolm Rutherford from Brown University; and Van Orman.

As meteorite fans well know, water content is everything and the inner Solar System was nearly devoid of it and other volatile elements during early formation. Past lunar studies show an even lower content, supporting the giant impactor theory – a theory which could very well need to be reconsidered. New findings also point to the need for more sample returns from other Solar System bodies as well.

“Water plays a critical role in determining the tectonic behavior of planetary surfaces, the melting point of planetary interiors, and the location and eruptive style of planetary volcanoes,” said Hauri, a geochemist with Carnegie’s Department of Terrestrial Magnetism (DTM). “We can conceive of no sample type that would be more important to return to Earth than these volcanic glass samples ejected by explosive volcanism, which have been mapped not only on the Moon but throughout the inner Solar System.”

But this isn’t a first for Saal. Three years ago the same team reported the first evidence for the presence of water in lunar volcanic glasses. Using modeling, they were able to theorize how much water was contained within the magma before eruption. From those results, Weinreich, a Brown University undergraduate, found the melt inclusions. This permitted the team to measure the pre-eruption concentration of water in the magma and estimate the amount of water in the Moon’s interior.

“The bottom line,” said Saal, “is that in 2008, we said the primitive water content in the lunar magmas should be similar to the water content in lavas coming from the Earth’s depleted upper mantle. Now, we have proven that is indeed the case.”

Of course, this could mean changing scientific thought on where lunar pole ice deposits originated, too. Current theory suggests they are the product of comets and meteoroid impacts – but perhaps they also could be magma related. It’s a fascinating study which could also help us to understand the properties of other planetary bodies.

But the magma doesn’t stop there…

According to new research from a team that includes Carnegie’s Richard Carlson and former-Carnegie fellow Maud Boyet, magma samples might be revealing a younger Moon, too. Building on the giant impactor theory, samples of a rock type called ferroan anorthosite, or FAN, are being examined. Believed to be the oldest of the Moon’s crustal rocks, FAN could be as old as 4.36 billion years – a figure much younger than previous lunar estimates. Using isotopes of the elements lead and neodymium, the team analyzed the samples for consistent ages from multiple isotope dating techniques.

“The extraordinarily young age of this lunar sample either means that the Moon solidified significantly later than previous estimates, or that we need to change our entire understanding of the Moon’s geochemical history,” Carlson said.

What does all this mean? Thanks to our understanding of the oldest terrestrial minerals, such as zircons from western Australia, we can derive the Moon’s crust may have evolved at the same time as Earth’s… a time which could date back to a giant impact. “The Earth’s Moon is the archetypical example of this type of differentiation.” says the team. “Evidence for a lunar magma ocean is derived largely from the widespread distribution, compositional and mineralogical characteristics, and ancient ages inferred for the ferroan anorthosite (FAN) suite of lunar crustal rocks.”

The next time you observe the Moon, remember… she’s a bit younger than you thought!

Original News Source: Carnegie Science News and Science Daily.

GRAIL Twins ready for NASA Science Expedition to the Moon: Photo Gallery

NASA’s twin GRAIL Science Probes ready for Lunar Expedition. GRAIL B (left) and GRAIL A (right) spacecraft are mounted side by side on top of a payload adapter inside the clean room at Astrotech Space Operations facility. The spacecraft await lunar launch on Sept. 8, 2011. Credit: Ken Kremer

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NASA’s GRAIL twins – dubbed GRAIL-A & GRAIL-B – are ready to embark on America’s next science expedition to the moon in less than 1 month’s time from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

The twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft have been exhaustively tested, fueled for flight and mounted side-by-side on a specially designed payload adapter inside the controlled environment of a clean room at the Astrotech Space Operations facility in nearby Titusville, Fla.

The next processing step is to encapsulate the lunar probes inside their protective payload fairing. The duo are set to be shipped from Astrotech to their Cape Canaveral launch pad next week on Aug. 16, where they will be mated to an already assembled Delta II booster.

Liftoff of the GRAIL twins is slated for Sept. 8 at 8:37 a.m. EDT by a Delta II Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 17 at Cape Canaveral for a nearly four month voyage to the moon.

After entering lunar orbit, the two GRAIL spacecraft will fly in a tandam formation just 50 kilometers above the lunar surface with an average separation of 200 km during the 90 day science phase.

Side view of twin GRAIL probes
The GRAIL spacecraft are mounted to a 3 inch high Launch Vehicle Adapter Assembly and 20 inch Payload Adapter spacer ring on top of a 30-inch high GSE stand. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)

GRAIL’s mission goal is to map the moon’s gravity field to high precision and thereby deduce the structure of the lunar interior from crust to core. This will also lead to a better understanding of the composition of the moon’s interior, according to Sami Asmar, GRAIL co-investigator from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasasdena, Calif., during an interview inside the Astrotech clean room at a photo opportunity for the media. A gravity experiment is also aboard the just launched Jupiter bound Juno spacecraft.

GRAIL Photo Album special taken from inside the Astrotech cleanroom facility.

Twin GRAIL lunar probes inside clean room at Astrotech. Credit: Ken Kremer
Close up of twin lunar probes, GRAIL- B (left) & GRAIL- A (right). Credit: Ken Kremer
GRAIL-B solar panels. Credit: Ken Kremer
GRAIL Science and Launch team inside clean room at Astrotech. Credit: Ken Kremer
GRAIL Co-Investigator Sami Asmar (left) from JPL and Ken Kremer discuss science objectives inside clean room at Astrotech.

The Perseids: Why is There a Meteor Shower?

Bright Fireball Credit: Adrian West

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Every year from late July to mid-August, the Earth encounters a trail of debris left behind from the tail of a comet named Swift-Tuttle. This isn’t the only trail of debris the Earth encounters throughout the year, but it might be one of the most notorious as it is responsible for the annual Perseid meteor shower, one of the best and well-known yearly meteor showers.

Comet Swift-Tuttle is a very long way away from us right now, but when it last visited this part of the Solar system, it left behind a stream of debris made up of particles of dust and rock from the comet’s tail.

Earth encounters this debris field for a few weeks, reaching the densest part on the 11th to 13th August.

The tiny specs of dust and rock collide with the Earth’s atmosphere, entering at speeds ranging from 11 km/sec (25,000 mph), to 72 km/sec (160,000 mph). They are instantly vaporised, emitting bright streaks of light. These tiny particles are referred to as meteors or for the more romantic, shooting stars.

Perseid meteor shower
Perseid meteor shower

The reason the meteor shower is called the Perseid, is because the point of the sky or radiant where the meteors appear to originate from is in the constellation of Perseus, hence Perseid.

When the Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak, up to 100 meteors an hour can be seen under ideal dark sky conditions, but in 2011 this will be greatly reduced due to a full Moon at this time. Many of the fainter meteors (shooting stars) will be lost to the glare of the Moon, but do not despair as some Perseids are bright fireballs made from larger pieces of debris, that can be golf ball size or larger.

These amazingly bright meteors can last for a few seconds and can be the brightest thing in the sky. They are very dramatic and beautiful, and seeing one can be the highlight of your Perseid observing experience.

So while expectations may be low for the Perseids this year, keep an eye out for the bright ones and the fireballs. You will not be disappointed, even if you only see one!

Join in on twitter with a worldwide event with Universe Today and Meteorwatch.org just follow along using the hashtag #meteorwatch ask questions, post images, enjoy and share your Perseid Meteor Shower experience.

LRO to Move in For Closer Look at the Apollo Landing Sites

Artist concept of LRO in lunar orbit. Credit: NASA

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NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is changing our view of the Moon by literally bringing it into sharper focus with its three high resolution cameras. But now, things are about to get even sharper. Today, LRO fired its thrusters to begin dipping down from its usual orbit about 50 km above the surface and moving to an orbit that will allow the spacecraft’s cameras me to image the Apollo sites from about 20 km away.

“This will allow me to obtain images of the Apollo sites that are about 4 times sharper than my current best images,” said the LRO spacecraft on Twitter.


This is just a temporary orbit and the spacecraft will take images of and around the Apollo sites between August 14 and 19, 2011. After that, the spacecraft will return to the 50-km-orbit until December.

LRO has two narrow angle cameras (NACs) and one wide angle camera (WAC).

According to Mark Robinson, LROC Principal Investigator, who spoke at the Lunar Forum at Ames Research Center last month, as of the end of July, 2011 the amount of data returned by LRO has been about 400 gigabits of data every day, which includes 371,027 high resolution images. The WAC has taken about 160,000 images, with about 90,000 in color. In total, the spacecraft has imaged the entire Moon about 20 times with the WAC, and has imaged 20 per cent of the moon with NACs, which provides a narrower but higher resolution view.

“We want to map the whole moon at 50 cm/pixel to 200 cm/pixel, and that would be LROC’s legacy for the next 100 years of lunar exploration and science,” Robinson said.

He noted that all three cameras are performing way better than he had hoped.

“We are very excited about the quality of the data,” Robinson said.

So get ready for a little more quality views of the Apollo landing sites!

Update: as commenter MoonOrBust noted, the LRO Twitter feed had an addendum later in the day, adding that there are several technical challenges associated with getting improved resolution images at the lower altitude orbit. For example, the spacecraft will not slow from its orbital speed of about 1.6 km/s (about 3,500 mph) when it gets closer to the Moon’s surface, which might cause some image blurring, particularly for the LROC Narrow Angle Camera images. “However, it will certainly be fun to compare the images from the different orbits!” the spacecraft Tweeted.

What Does the Moon Look Like from Space?

Aeronomy
Earth's thin line of atmosphere and a gibbous moon are featured in this image photographed by astronaut Ron Garan. Credit: NASA/Ron Garan. Click for larger version

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Ah, the Moon! Earth’s constant companion and the subject of songs, poetry, and many an astrophoto here on Universe Today. But we always gaze upon the Moon under the cover of Earth’s atmosphere. Does it look any different from up above the world so high? Astronauts from the ISS have taken plenty of pictures of the Moon, and here are a couple recent and notable lunar images. The one above is of a crescent Moon taken in March of this year (2011) — notice the bright crescent sliver present even while the entire moon is visible. Here, the Moon looks teeny tiny. Below is another view of a bigger, but still crescent Moon as seen from the ISS.


The Moon as seen by astronaut Ron Garan on the ISS on July 31, 2011. Credit: NASA/ Ron Garan

Expedition 28 astronaut Ron Garan took this image just a few days ago on July 31, 2011 from the International Space Station. This is such a stunning image, it was featured on NASA’s Image of the Day Gallery. Garan noted the view saying, “We had simultaneous sunsets and moonsets.” For anyone in orbit, this extraordinary event is a daily occurrence. Since the station orbits the Earth every 90 minutes, each day the crew experiences such a view about 16 times a day.

See more from Ron Garan on his Twitpic page.