Maria Zuber Of MIT Will Give Lecture Today Entitled ‘Old Moon, New Moon‘ At The Carnegie Institute For Science In Washington DC; Dr Zuber Will Describe How Understanding Of The Moon Evolved With GRAIL Mission Data – Surprisingly Low Density (2550 Kg / M³) & Thickness (34-43 Km) Of Lunar Crust – & How Studying The Moon Provides Insight Into How Other Rocky Planets Formed / Developed
Image Credit: MIT, NASA, Carnegie Institute for Science
LADEE Orbiting At ~5,793kph Collected Valuable Science Data & Mimicked Surveyor / Apollo ‘Twilight Ray’ Observations With Star Tracker At ~91-Meter Altitude Prior To Far-Side Impact 17 Apr Between 21:30-22:22 PDT, Possibly Smashing Into Lunar Crater Or Mountain Ridge; Will Take More Than 1 Year To Analyze Successful US$280M Mission Data Including LDEX Characterization Of Ejecta Cloud & Perturbations From Chang’e-3 Landing; Completion Of 5th USA Moon Orbiter Mission Since Apollo Era, No Controlled Landings Achieved After 1972
Pictured: NASA Administrator Charles Bolden & part of the LADEE Team
Image Credit: NASA
LRO Survives 2 Consecutive Orbits Going Straight From Moon Shadow To Earth Shadow; LRO Twitter Account Reports Probe Instruments Dropped To 15° C; Engineers Were Less Confident That LADEE Would Survive Cold, In Normal Orbit Probe Is Deprived Of Sunlight For 1 Hour, During Eclipse It Survived 4 Hours Of Shadow; Mission Team Received Yellow Then Red Alarms As Power / Temperatures Dropped, Once Sunlight Returned All Returned To Normal, Allowing Spacecraft To Continue Collecting Valuable Data While Gradually Reducing Altitude
Image Credit: NASA, Astro Bob
Total Lunar Eclipse Visible In Western Hemisphere 15 Apr Between 07:06-08:24 UT, First Of Series Of 4 (Tetrad) In Next 18 Months; Celestial Geometry Will Challenge LRO Systems As Craft Will Pass Through Earth Shadow In 2 Consecutive Orbits; Eclipse Could Cause LADEE Propulsion Systems To Freeze, Yet Should Not Affect Scheduled ~21 Apr Impact; Chang’e-3 Lander Will Have Unique View Of Earth (TL) During Eclipse, Potential Opportunity To Study How Moon Cools While In Earth Shadow
Image Credit: NASA
Ground Controllers From NASA Ames Will Command LADEE To Perform Final Orbital Maintenance Maneuver On Friday 11 Apr, To Put Probe On Course For Far Side Impact On Or Before 21 Apr, Travelling At 1.6 km/sec; Total Lunar Eclipse On 15 Apr Will Expose Craft To 4 Hours Of Extreme Conditions; Exact Date / Time Of Impact Depends On Variables Such As Mascons / Lumpy Gravity, Topographic Features; Public Can Guess Impact Time In NASA ‘Take The Plunge’ Contest
Image Credit: NASA
Media Teleconference Hosted By NASA Today At 11:00 PDT To Discuss LADEE Extended Mission Operations, Additional Science Gathering, Planned 21 Apr Impact Into Lunar Surface; US$263M-Probe Successfully Completed 100-Day Primary Mission In March; Spacecraft Will Continue To Gather Data At Progressively Lower Altitudes Until Impact; Teleconference Participants: LADEE Project Executive Joan Salute (T), Project Manager Butler Hine (B), Project Scientist Richard Elphic
Image Credit: NASA
Future Moon Settlements / Human Operations Should Be Underground, Rely On Robots For Majority Of Surface Activity To Protect From Meteorite Impacts Says Russia Astronomer Vladimir Surdin (R); Over 300 Impacts Recorded On Moon Since 2005; At LPSC, LROC PI Mark Robinson Details Data Of Secondary Impacts From Recent Lunar Impact, 248 Small Debris Impacts Found Up To 30km From Fresh 18m-Wide Crater, These Secondaries Could Pose More Threat To Surface Assets Than Primary Craters
Image Credit: NASA, Moscow State University
US$504M Moon-Mapping Orbiter Is 1 Of 7 Planetary Science Missions NASA Is Reviewing For Potential Mission Extension; LRO Extended Mission Not Included In US$17.5B Budget Proposal NASA Sent To Congress; Mission Will Require Approval Of Both Independent Biannual Senior Review Of Operating Missions – To Conclude In June – & Congress; LRO Mission Extension Would Cost ~US$8M Annually, Would Be Only NASA Spacecraft Exploring Moon Over Next 2 Years; Funding Currently Set To Expire Sep 2014
Image Credit: NASA
Largest High-Resolution Map Of Moon Ever Made Released By NASA; 10,581 Pictures From LRO Narrow-Angle Cameras Were Stitched Together To Create North Pole Map; Entire Image Measures 931,070 Pixels Square, Nearly 867B Pixels Total; Complete Printout Would Be ~100 Square Meters; Creation Of Mosaic Took 4 Years, Huge Team Effort Across LRO Project; Map Will Be Useful Identifying Landing Sites / Planning Robotic & Human Moon Missions
Image Credit: NASA
Japan Scientists Preparing For 2nd SELenological and ENgineering Explorer (SELENE-2) Moon Mission Consisting Of Orbiter, Lander, Rover To Launch NET 2018; SELENE-3 Sample Return To Follow, Eventually Human Moon Missions & Outpost; Japan Team Hakuto Strong Contender For GLXP / Selected To Compete For Terrestrial Milestone Prizes; Commercial Interest & Advertising From Moon Highlighted By Japan Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Planning To Send ‘Pocari Sweat’ Sports Drink To Moon Surface On Astrobotic Lunar Lander
Image Credit: JAXA, GLXP, Hakuto