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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter: Searching For A 'New Moon'

NASA's back to the Moon adventure is being kick-started by the building of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. That probe is the opening volley of spacecraft in response to President George W. Bush's multi-billion dollar Vision for Space Exploration that he outlined in January 2004.

A goal of the Vision is returning humans to the Moon as early as 2015 and no later than 2020.

To make that happen, starting no later than 2008, a series of robotic missions will be sent to the lunar surface "to research and prepare for future human exploration," Bush proclaimed.

This week, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) begins a preliminary design review. A process that is sure to reflect the financial stress and strain status of NASA's newly issued budget for fiscal year 2007.

LRO is the first of the Robotic Lunar Exploration Program missions. After a planned launch by late fall 2008, LRO will take four days to make its way to the Moon and then orbit that chunk of "magnificent desolation" for nominally one year.

Take note. For you "Apollo landings were a hoax" believers LROC's sightseeing abilities should set the record straight.

LRO will give extra special attention to the relatively unexplored polar regions on the Moon.

Unresolved is the issue of polar volatiles as a resource—especially water-ice. The hunt for water-ice on the cold Moon is a hot-button topic. Among a bevy of sensors, LRO is outfitted with equipment to chip away at the ice-on-the-Moon matter.

NASA's Lunar Prospector circled the Moon for over a year in 1998-1999, charting levels of hydrogen in shadowed craters near the Moon's south and north poles. That hydrogen signal has been inferred by some specialists as billions of tons worth of water-ice below a modest covering of soil.

Earlier, the Pentagon's Clementine spacecraft also hinted that water-ice may be found in sunlight-deprived polar craters.

If present, water-ice would be a nifty resource. It could be processed into oxygen, water, and rocket fuel for use by future lunar explorers. Still, whether that icy material is truly tucked away at the Moon's poles is arguable.

More here from Space.com: www.space.com/businesstechnology/060207_lro_technology.html
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Take note. For you "Apollo landings were a hoax" believers LROC's sightseeing abilities should set the record straight.

Now...this I want to see... #Yay#

[Rocketman]

Just as religous people have faith in god, I have faith in the lunar landings. The descent stages are there on the Moon.

However, I don't think this will shutup the conspirators. In my opinion they are just as ignorant as those who think Elvis just died in the last few years.

Get over it, move on, we landed on the moon, and Elvis has been dead for a long time. I wonder what kind of drugs these people are on.

Talk about braindead... #shootme#

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Past discussions on if we can visualize the landers on the Moon

Here are some past threads on Lunar landing discussions that should be of interest...

Lunar Landing threads:

astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?board=Lunar&action=display&thread=1088071222


SMART 1 and the Landing sites:

astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?board=Unexplained&action=display&thread=1109971498

NASA Equipment visible:

astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?board=Manned&action=display&thread=1121708144


Google Landing sites:

astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?board=Lunar&action=display&thread=1121878462


One on visualizing a probe's impact:

astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?board=Lunar&action=display&thread=1108999636

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There still arn't any definite images or evidence that the decent stages are resting on top of lunar dust, other than faith...but we will have to wait until this probe - The LRO - starts it's orbit to confirm the landing sites...or until the Chinese get there!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Passes Preliminary Design Review

The first in a series of robotic missions to the moon, the LRO is scheduled for launch in October 2008. It will carry six science instruments and a technology demonstration.

The mission goal is to develop new approaches and technologies to support the effort to send humans back to the Moon and to Mars as part of the Bush administration's Space Exploration Vision.

The team completed the review on Feb. 9, and it will release the results, along with ongoing assessments of project cost and schedule, as part of a confirmation review, sometime this spring.

At that point, NASA' officials must decide whether to authorize additional work and must set the project's cost estimate.

The mission's critical design review is scheduled for fall, and will represent the completion of detailed system design, the transition to assembly and integration of the mission elements.

From PhysOrg.com: www.physorg.com/news11155.html

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

NASA Set to Launch Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2008

After successful completion of its mission confirmation review on Wednesday, May 17, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter project has been given the authority to proceed to the implementation phase.

The confirmation review represents NASA's formal decision for authorizing additional work and sets the project's cost estimate. The mission was deemed to be within budget and on schedule to launch in October 2008.

After a 30-year hiatus, the orbiter represents NASA's first step towards returning humans to the moon. The spacecraft will spend an unprecedented year mapping the moon from an average altitude of approximately 30 miles. It will carry six instruments and one technology demonstration to conduct investigations specifically targeted at preparing for future human exploration.

The orbiter is being built at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The instruments are being provided by various organizations throughout the U.S. and one in Russia. The instruments will generate a global map of the moon; to determine which potential landing sites are free from hazards; to measure light and temperature patterns at the moon's poles; to search for potential resources, such as water; and to assess the deep-space radiation environment and its potential effects on humans.

The next spacecraft milestone is the critical design review, scheduled for later this year. This review represents the completion of detailed system designs and marks the transition into the manufacturing, assembly, and integration phase of the mission development cycle.

Source: www.physorg.com/news67177800.html