"Our most critical activity in this mission, we have do something just shy of an hour rocket burn to get captured into lunar orbit," said Craig Tooley, the LRO project manager.
If all goes well, the satellite should swoop into an elliptical "commissioning orbit" of 30 by 216 kilometers (18.5 by 134 miles). The engine firing slows the spacecraft's speed and allows LRO to enter into orbit around the Moon. Credit: NASAįour days after leaving the Earth, LRO will reach the Moon and ignite its engines for a nail-biting maneuver that amounts to a make-or-break moment in the $504 million mission. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is NASA's trailblazer to create detailed maps of the terrain, plot out potential landing sites, identify natural resources that could be exploited and characterize the radiation conditions that astronauts can expect.Īrtist's concept of LRO in orbit around the moon. When the next generation of lunar astronauts step foot on the Moon in the years ahead, the definitive travel guide compiled by an instrument-laden spacecraft launching this week will detail the best and worst places to go and the risks the crews could face. Privacy note: your e-mail address will not be used for any other purpose.Ģ1st century lunar orbiter a precursor to human missions Sign up for our NewsAlert service and have the latest news in astronomy and space e-mailed direct to your desktop. Spaceflight Now | Atlas Launch Report | 21st century lunar orbiter a precursor to human missions
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