Category Archives: LADEE

Tuesday / 15 October 2013

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LADEE Settling Into Lunar Orbit,
Preparing Communications Demonstration

LLCD1013

Lunar Atmosphere & Dust Environment Explorer Now In 250-Km Near-Circular Equatorial Orbit; Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration To Begin 17 Oct, LADEE To Link Up With Ground Stations In New Mexico, California & Canary Islands, Achieve Downlink Speed 622Mbps / Uplink Speed 20Mbps, Technology Could Revolutionize Deep Space Communication; Around 11 Nov Probe Will Drop To ~50Km Altitude For 100-Day Science Mission

Image Credit: NASA

Thursday / 10 October 2013

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LADEE Set To Enter Commissioning Orbit

MaceWindu1013

US$280M Probe Now Orbiting Moon Once Every 4 Hours After Completing 2nd Orbit Insertion Maneuver Early Wed Morning; 3rd Maneuver Planned For Sat 12 Oct Will Move LADEE From Elliptical To Circular ‘Commissioning’ Orbit (250-Km Altitude); Mission Scientists Will Use This Time To Test Science Instruments & Conduct Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration Before Dropping To 50-Km To Begin Science Operations In Late Nov

Image Credit: NASA

Wednesday / 2 October 2013

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LADEE In Final Phase Of Moon Trek

LADEElunarInsertion1013

US$280M Probe Completes 2nd Burn Perfectly, No Longer Needs Additional Burn To Reach Desired High Elliptical Orbit; When LADEE Reaches Moon Gravitational Field On 6 Oct It Will Make 197-Second Retrograde Burn Reducing Velocity To 267 Meters Per Second For Lunar Orbit Capture; Craft Will Then Perform 40 Days Of High-Altitude Science Checkouts & LLCD Operations Before Dropping To 50-Km Altitude To Begin 100-Day Science Operations

Image Credit: NASA

Friday / 20 September 2013

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LADEE Update, Moon Regolith Research

LADEE & Moon Regolith

LADEE In 2nd Phasing Loop Orbit Around Earth, Continues Instrument Checkout & Calibration Activities; Ultraviolet-Visible Spectrometer In Bake-Out To Boil Off Any Contaminants; After 3rd Orbital Loop Will Fire Thrusters To Achieve Moon Orbit, Study Moon Atmosphere & Dust; NASA MSFC & USGS Creating Simulated Lunar Regolith From Stillwater Mine Rocks In Nye, Montana To Support Future Lunar Exploration

Image Credit: NASA / GSFC, A. Reinhold

Tuesday / 10 September 2013

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LADEE: Destination Moon

LADEEempirest

383-Kg Spacecraft Now Making 30-Day Journey To Moon Through Series Of Phasing Orbits That Will Allow It To Arrive At Proper Time / Phase; Flawless Night Launch Provided Spectacular Viewing For East Coast USA; Slight Glitch With Craft Reactor Wheels Corrected By NASA Engineers; Upon 6 Oct Arrival At Moon LADEE Will Go Through 30-Day Checkout Phase & Then 100-Day Science Phase In Which It Will Orbit Moon Between 20-60-Km 

Image Credit: NASA, Ben Cooper

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 6-9 Sep 2013

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Launch Of Last Scheduled NASA Moon Mission As Lunar Experts Flock To NewSpace Companies

LADEEme0913

LADEE Launch — 6 Sep, 23:27 EDT, Wallops Island VA, Via Minotaur 5 Rocket — Promises To Provide Spectacular Show To East Coast USA Viewers; US$248M-Mission Will Test New System For Ultra-Fast Optical Data Transmission — 600 Mbit/s, Unravel Mysteries Of Lunar Atmosphere / Dust Environment, Premiere Common Spacecraft Bus; Next Flight Of The Bus Likely On Moon Express (ME) GLXP Mission NET 2015; ME Announces Paul Spudis New Chief Scientist, Jack Burns Added To Science Advisory Board

Image Credit: NASA, Moon Express

Wednesday / 4 September 2013

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LADEE Mission Creates Excitement / Questions

LADEEquestions0913

1000 VIPs Expected To Attend LADEE Launch This Fri, 6 Sep 23:27 EDT From Wallops VA; Scientists Enthusiastic To Learn More About Lunar Atmosphere, 1 / 100,000th The Density Of Earth’s, & How Atmosphere / Dust Will Affect Future Human & Robotic Explorers; Whether / When Any Of Those Explorers Will Be American Remains Unclear However As NASA Lacking Any Follow-Up Moon Missions On Current Schedule

Image Credit: NASA

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 23-26 August 2013

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LADEE Launch To Achieve Multiple Firsts

Minotaur5_0813

Launch Of US$280M Mission, Scheduled For 23:27 EDT On 6 Sep, Will Be Visible To Tens Of Millions Of People Along America East Coast; First Lunar / Planetary Launch From Wallops Island Spaceport, VA; Inaugural Launch Of Minotaur 5 Rocket, 3 Of 5 Stages Made From Converted Cold War Ballistic Missiles; Debut Of Modular Common Spacecraft Bus Developed At NASA Ames, Smaller Version Of Which Will Be Used For Moon Express GLXP Mission

Image Credit: NASA

Wednesday / 21 August 2013

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Students Getting Involved In LADEE Mission

StudentLADEE

LADEE Partnering With Lewis Center For Educational Research & NASA JPL To Provide Students Opportunity To Help Track & Monitor Status Of Spacecraft In Flight; Students Will Remotely Control 34-M Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope From Their Classrooms To Determine Status & Position Of Craft; University Of Hawaii-Hilo Raising Funds To Send Intern Krystal Schlechter To Witness 6 Sep LADEE Launch From Wallops Flight Facility In VA

Image Credit: NASA, lewiscenter.org/gavrt/, imiloahawaii.org

 

 

Tuesday / 13 August 2013

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Children / Families Invited To Learn About Lunar Communication

GoddardKids

Elementary School-Aged Children To Attend Free Afternoon At NASA Goddard SFC On 18 Aug To Learn How Space Agency Sends / Receives Data & How Deep Space Communication Is Advancing Through LLCD Experiment Launching Aboard LADEE On 6 Sep; Hands-on Activities Will Demonstrate Complications Of Accurate Laser Pointing Over Great Distances (Moon 384,400Km From Earth), Teach How To Tune-In To Correct Frequency Of Electromagnetic Spectrum

Image Credit: NASA